Please sponsor us

Camphill Milton Keynes is a community for 52 people who have special needs. We consulted with our residents on whether they would welcome a workshop which would helped them understand and use modern technology. All were in agreement that this would be something they would enjoy.

Many of our residents find it very difficult to master modern technology that most of us take for granted. This makes it difficult for them to be part of everyday society and inhibits them from being able to live the same lives as the rest of society.

We would therefore like to create a Modern Technology Workshop. Some residents already have laptops but they only have rudimentary skills in operating them _ they would benefit greatly from being able to use them better. They would also like to be able to use iPods and download music, use digital cameras and camcorders, understand Skype and digital radios, and use their mobile phones better. This workshop would help everyone to use modern equipment which most of us take for granted.

The Workshop is aimed initially at residents of Camphill Community. But it is hoped that it could be developed further to help people from all sectors of the Milton Keynes community who have a learning disability, either on day placements or on specifically focussed training days. This would mean that anyone with a learning difficulty could benefit from the Workshop.

The ability to use modern technology would result in more people with learning difficulties being able to access information on the internet: they could understand how to shop on the net, and how to access information about services they are entitled to; they could also link into social websites such as Facebook, and have a better understanding of leisure activities in the Milton Keynes area. This would help with social inclusion.

The Workshop would help residents and day clients to lead ordinary lives: they could be taught to manage their money using a spreadsheet; they could also search for voluntary and paid positions, and apply for a job or college place by word processing a letter, or sending an e-mail.

E-mail training would be given so everyone is able to keep in touch with friends and family: they would learn to use cameras and camcorders to show what they are doing. They could also store their photographs CDs on a computer.

We hope that you will find this an interesting and worthwhile project and feel able to support it.