At the end of 2023, Calderdale Libraries put out a call on social media for volunteers. Free computer access for residents is already provided in libraries across the borough but they struggle to deliver one-to-one IT tuition to the public. They were looking for “friendly and approachable volunteers to help and support library users and the general public to manage their own learning, maximise their skills and improve their self-confidence”.
Good communication and listening skills, competence in IT and a willingness to share their knowledge and skills over two or three hour-long sessions, one day each week during library opening hours were the main requirements.
Who? Me?
A working career as a software engineer (amongst many other things) and a lifelong passion for messing around with any computer system that came my way seemed like it might fit the bill. Fluency in a dozen or so computer languages on assorted types of hardware over decades must be useful, surely? I’ve used anything IT-related that I can get my hands on for as long as I can remember and I’ve been training other people for nearly as long. Coupled with being recently retired, and being able to spare a bit more time, I figured I could probably do this!
So it was, after an exchange of emails and initial chats with the volunteer coordinator, followed by forms, interviews and DBS checks – I was in! I’ve had paid jobs with less rigorous application processes.
Getting started
With the library supervisor, I agreed to volunteer one whole day each week, offering six one-hour sessions (more than they’d originally asked for) and we would see what the demand was like. The expectation was that I’d probably have two or three appointments most weeks and would easily be able to fill the rest of my day with my own projects. Plus, I’d be in a library, my idea of heaven: how could I not fill my time!
On 15 January, I started my first day and had my first client at 10am. Another five had already booked for that day, and I managed to squeeze in a couple of walk-ins as well. Every week since has been filled well in advance, and often up to two weeks ahead. I am currently fully booked up to and including 25 March. There is a clear demand here that is not being filled elsewhere.
What the volunteering day can bring
Whatever IT help is needed, I’m willing to have a go at anything people bring in. If I can fix it, we’ll work through it together. This may range from how to add a friend or family member into ‘contacts’ on a phone or tablet, using, installing or removing apps, or configuring and using mobile email. We might address Wi-Fi connectivity, VPNs and using a variety of office suites. The hardware can be a variety of mobile phones, tablets, laptops – even rescuing a rogue Garmin.
Often clients come in because a well-meaning family member has bought them a new phone/tablet/laptop, but hasn’t got the time (or patience) to spend helping them learn how to use it. The result is they often feel lost, stupid and unable to ask. Although the lost part is generally true, they’re not at all stupid and they can ask – they know what it is they want to do, they just need help with it.
To the family member who bought someone a new phone or tablet, and didn’t think about whether they’d be fluent with using it: don’t feel bad, and don’t stop there. These tools are needed to navigate the modern world, and can be a life-changer, or even a life-saver. But, it’s perhaps worth checking whether there’s someone local out there who can provide the kick-start of help needed to get the most out of such a gift, adding privacy and security, boosting skills and confidence. And all for free.
At the same time as helping them achieve what they want to do, I also make sure to boost the security and privacy features on their hardware, helping them to install free apps to block malware, ransomware and keyloggers, and enhance browsing privacy. I do this while providing friendly, easy-to-understand explanations of what we’re doing and why.
As I’m a volunteer, there’s no charge for my help, which comes as a surprise to so many people. Even so, I’ve had people offer to pay, or put money in a charity box, to buy me a drink (tea and coffee are provided for free in the library anyway) as I explain patiently over again that I do this because I can and because there’s plainly a need.
More seriously, I’m helping people with booking doctor/hospital appointments online and even applying for benefits before they are lost forever. These are people in serious danger of falling through the gaps and being left behind as agencies of all sorts become ever more digitalised and inhuman.
There’s more to it than technology
The IT side of what I do takes up around one-third of my time with my clients. The rest of our time together is about letting them talk. They chat about their life and experiences, how their morning went, or their dance classes. We chat about their friends, family, life, how their appointment at the doctor went. They show me their photos, I show them some of mine, while we drink tea and coffee together and chat about music, books, philosophy, travel, the menu at the local cafe – whatever grabs their fancy. It’s fun, and people are usually interesting if they are given a chance to shine.
It’s a lovely way of meeting people from all walks of life, working together through some IT problems, and talking, laughing and often joking the time away. It’s rare that I don’t see someone walk away with a little more bounce in their step, or a more positive tilt to their head and shoulders. Because someone has listened to them.
Perhaps it’s too easy to imagine that the people coming for help with technology must be elderly and/or lonely. This is just not the case: they come from all age groups, all social walks of life, and with a variety of lived experience. IT knowledge isn’t age or class-specific, nor is the occasional need for a cup of tea, some cheery company from outside your usual circle, and someone to chat to, even if it’s just for an hour. Of course, some folks need more help than others, but even a little is often enough to get them started on the road to tech independence.
There is not just a technological need, but a social need here that’s also being unfulfilled.
And sometimes the stories they share are absolutely heartbreaking.
Volunteering is rewarding – so what’s stopping you?
I’m one person, volunteering at one library for one day a week. It’s truly rewarding and it’s needed. But there aren’t enough of us to fill the demand. I’m the only volunteer of my kind in the one main and six hub libraries of the Calderdale group. Many more volunteers are desperately needed.
If you’re retired, and can spare the time already, then great! Go for it. If you’re not, talk to your employer, say that you want to volunteer your expertise and there’s a good chance they’ll be supportive. We all know someone who needs help from time to time, and so does your manager or boss if they stop to think about it. Or maybe they can read this article and it will jog their memory.
Approach it professionally, rather than ‘just dropping in to help out’. You may be donating your time for free, but to everyone you deal with, you are a professional who works there, so maintain that impression in terms of timekeeping, consistency, and behaviour. Treat it like pro bono work with proper surgery hours: perhaps set a timescale of a few months, a year, maybe longer? And remember to take lunch, holidays and allow yourself time to unwind, because the saddest stories will stay with you.
Your IT expertise may be more than mine, or less, the chances are it’s still going to be more than that of those seeking help and, therefore, valuable. If you’re not sure where to start then try your local library, but there are also makeries and repair hubs popping up all over the place. They’ll be on social media looking for volunteers. Contact them and offer your specific skills, that you’ve honed for years. Be led by your education, training, natural proficiency and professional experience rather than a vague idea of doing “whatever is needed”. Use the skills you have to help people who simply don’t have the same life experience as you. Offering targeted help is better than just hoping for the best.
Most of all, you’ll find it’s worth it.
