People’s War Group at the ACE IT Silver Surfers Festival:- 22nd to the 26th May

From ration books and recipes to street games and the dance halls...

From taking shelter at the siren's call to waiting for word from loved ones serving overseas....

...From swapping ciggy cards to the family gathering round the radio!

Share your memories and memorabilia of Gorgie and Dalry during the wartime years by coming along and participating in the ACE IT Silver Surfers Festival 2006.

Over the course of the week, ACE IT will be hosting a daily series of open house living memory and photographic restoration sessions.

'Live' Photo Restoration:- During the sessions, in a five stage process comprising scanning to intensive image manipulation with industry standard graphic software we will take badly damaged or faded original wartime photographs and documents and return them to original condition... or better! Each stage of the process will be featured on a specially created webpage to be uploaded live as each stage is completed.

Call 0131 477 3883 for information and booking a reservation

Click to visit the People's War Group Online

Mike Hughes, head of BT’s Digital Inclusion campaign, said: “Communication is at the heart of BT’s business, and we are committed to helping people improve the way they communicate whether face-to-face, on the phone or via the internet. We want everyone to be comfortable using new technology. Providing grant funds to Age Concern Centres, BT will be contributing to the training of key staff and personnel at a local level. We realise that it is not just about presenting people with the technology to get online, but encouraging them to embrace it by demonstrating the benefit that they can gain from accessing the internet.”

The grant for ACE IT will be used to help fund a part time tutor, cover volunteer’s expenses and purchase 2 special keyboards

ACE IT’s Computer Training Project for the 50 + group will be celebrating their 5 year birthday next month – they have now trained over 1500 eager learners and are still going strong with 60 new learners every week! All training is provided on a daily basis by a team of 14 dedicated volunteers supported by 2 part time members of staff at ACE IT’s Computer Training Centre at Caledonian House, Caledonian Crescent, Edinburgh

What the learners say:
“ACE it’s computer training has made such a difference to our lives – we no longer have a fear of computers – it’s (the computer) almost irresistible!”

“I would never have learned to cope without these sessions; all the tutors are so patient”

“Before starting the course I was totally ignorant and now I have a good level of understanding. The tutors were excellent and I enjoyed the course so much I didn’t want it to end”

Some original learners with ACE IT went on to build their own web site at www.edinburghsilversurfers.co.uk and still meet every week at ACE IT’s Centre. Their site has attracted over 700,000 visitors in just over 2 years!

What the Surfers say:
“Five Years On … Think of all the changes, how many of us now use mobile ‘phones, use e-mail instead of the ‘phone or writing a letter?
Speaking from our angle, it has made a huge difference in our lives. We have made so many new friends – some of whom we seldom speak to face to face but converse with at the touch of a button. We have had many great social occasions too”

Jenny Ridge, Chief Exec of ACE IT from said, “We are delighted with the BT grant that we have been awarded. With many local residents eager to learn how to benefit from the internet, it is important that we have the facilities and the experts to help our community get online. With more and more fundamental services online and with more families choosing to keep in touch via the internet, funding, such as the BT grant, helps support our activities to get even more people to take that first step towards trying the technology for themselves.”

Contact : Jenny Ridge Chief Exec,
ACE IT
Caledonian House
42 Caledonian Crescent
Edinburgh EH 11 2AG
Web : www.aceit.org.uk
Email : jenny@aceit.org.uk
Phone : 477 3883
-ENDS-

Notes to editors:
About Age Concern
Age Concern represents all older people in the UK, works with older people and listens to their views, campaigns for change on their behalf, and provides a wide range of services and opportunities. Age Concern England takes the lead role within Age Concern in the UK on campaigning, public policy on ageing and older people, fundraising and management of the Age Concern brand. We work across the UK to raise sufficient resources for Age Concern to achieve its purpose.
About BT

BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in more than 140 Countries. Its principal activities include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended 31 March 2005, BT Group’s revenue was £18,623 million with profit before taxation of £2,354 million.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit : www.bt.com/aboutbt