Stepping in to help older people access services online

Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin has seen a surge in enquiries from older people needing assistance to access services online, following Shropshire Council’s decision to become a “digital council”.

For many years, Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin has supported older people with Blue Badge applications. This involved a volunteer visiting an older person in their home to help them handwrite the application and submit all the evidence required for a Blue Badge. However, earlier this year, Shropshire Council switched to digital applications, as part of their digital strategy. The knock on effect of this decision has implications for many older people who do not have the digital means to apply.

In an effort to address the issues caused by decisions like this, last year we launched Engage, our digital inclusion service, to assist older people to get online.

Robert Smith, Information and Advice Manager of Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin, said: ‘We are seeing an increase in the number of older people calling on us to help them access services online. We are aware this is a huge barrier for people accessing the help they need. I would urge anyone to get in touch with us by writing to our campaigns team or telephoning us if they have experienced difficulties accessing services which are only available online.’

With the council’s latest announcement to be a “cashless council”, Robert added: ‘We have raised our concerns about the local authority’s move to become more digitally focussed, and the negative impact this will have on a large number of older people in our county who don’t have the means to access these services.’

If this issue affects you or a member of your family, please call Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin's Campaigns team on 01743 233 123.