Pub goers at the Royal Oak and Castle at Pevensey in East Sussex are just concluding a seven week computer course courtesy of the Barclays Digital Eagles Team.
Running once a week for a 90-minute morning the free sessions covered how to get online; using the internet securely and how to search for content; online shopping and keeping in touch with people.
Debby Fitton who runs the Royal Oak and Castle said: “Barclays provide the training for free and we provided free tea and coffee with cake. About fifteen people turned up on the first week but it settled to around a dozen regulars for the whole course. Many of the trainees were new to the pub and some have taken food menus away with them but it’s not about making more money; for us it’s about investing in our future.”
She added: “One lady who came each week said that she had never walked into anywhere on her own before. She lives alone and was very nervous about coming in for the first time – but now that she has she says that she would feel confident enough to pop in for a coffee and sit in a corner with a magazine. If that’s the most that we get from running this course then it has been worth it.”
Barclays has turned 20,000 of its staff worldwide into digital champions and over 12,000 in the UK. The Barclays Digital Eagles are employees with a passion for online and social media who volunteer their time to explain technology to their colleagues and and the public.
Zoe Clarke from Wealden District Council who co-ordinated the course with Pub is The Hub added: “The Barclays Digital Eagles Team make these sessions friendly and are a great way to build confidence using computers and the internet. We’ve already been asked for another course at the pub with two other pubs in the pipeline for 2017.”