With less than a month to Digital Switchover, West Wight Safer Neighbourhood Team has pledged to lend a Helping Hand by telling older and disabled members of the Isle of Wight community about the help they can get from the BBC-run Switchover Help Scheme.
With only a few weeks to go to switchover – the team, is urging residents on the island to think of someone they know, such as a family member, neighbour or friend, that may need help switching to digital and telling them about the Switchover Help Scheme.
Justin Keefe, member of the West Wight Safer Neighbourhood Team and an authorised Help Scheme volunteer, said: “As part of the West Wight Safer Neighbourhood Team, we are pleased to assist colleagues from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme.
“We work very closely with partner agencies in rural communities in the West Wight area. As part of my role as a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO), my colleagues and I get involved with a variety of projects which benefit our communities. A significant number of the population in the West Wight area are elderly and need support. These are the type of people who will be the most affected by the switchover as many of them will have the old analogue televisions.
“When we carry out our patrols and visits to these members of the community we will be able to remind and reassure them about the upcoming switch over to digital television. We will also pass information to our Neighbourhood Watch schemes, many of whom operate all across the West Wight area. The co-ordinators, who are invaluable to us, will pass on information to their members and their members will pass this information to their friends also.
“Personally I have found the Switchover Help Scheme team to be very professional and pleasant to deal with. My mother in law, who is virtually blind, has just recently had her digital box installed. The technician who installed the equipment had a great knowledge of this device and he displayed great patience when explaining how to use the equipment. My mother in law and I were very impressed with this service, so I am very pleased to spread the word about it to others’’.
The Rowridge transmitter, serving parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, parts of Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex, will begin to switch to digital on 7th March 2012.
Eligible people in the Rowridge transmitter area have been posted a Help Scheme information pack explaining the offer available and a follow up reminder letter will be posted out soon. However, West Wight Safer Neighbourhood Team is urging everyone who has already switched to digital to reach out to those older and disabled people who may still need help, and have not yet made contact with the Help Scheme.
To view any Helping Hand events in the area visit www.helpscheme.co.uk website link.
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