Two Oldham pensioners have been reunited after an 11 year absence after they were both drawn as winners after attending a Silver Surfers Day at local employement charity Highway to Opportunities.
Geoffery Dixon (63) from Clarksfield and Peter Jackson (76) from Oldham town centre hadn't seen each other for since they worked at The Post Office over a decade ago until they both attended Silver Surfers Day at Highway to Opportunities, aimed at getting over 50's on line.
Both men were drawn as winners from the free prize draw, winning an digital camera and ipod shuffle respectively.
Geoffery commented 'I saw an advert in the newspaper about getting online, and wanted to find out more about computers, I'd never used a computer before and was surprised about how easy it was. I've booked onto a course now to help me learn more, and eventually I'd like to be able to download music and surf the internet.'
Peter Jackson added 'my wife has a laptop and I'd like to be able to use it to e mail our family that don't live in Oldham anymore, and send photos etc. When we were working at the post office we never had computers so this is totally new to my generation, but it wasn't as hard as I though it would be.' 'I'd urge anyone that wants to use the internet or computers to do one of these courses, it opens up so many doors, and is a lot easier than you think.'
Learndirect Coordinator for Highway to Opportunities Louise Day commented 'This is a lovely story and proof that attending something like this opens so many doors, as well as gaining new skills you also meet new friends or get reunited with people you haven't seen for a long time. There are many different courses in Oldham for people that haven't used computers before, and most of these are free.'
'Now days the benefits far outweight the negatives, you can use e mail, ebay and pay your bills on line, as well as social networking sites, music and photography'
To find out more about these courses contact Highway to Opportunities on 0161 621 9200
