Run by villagers for villagers, for beginners and experts alike

At the telecottage you can:

The telecottage offers huge benefits to those in business or wanting to set up to develop business knowledge through information technology (IT).

Press Information for the Egerton Village Hall Computer facility: 6th April 2005

Egerton Parish Council’s computer training facility based at the Millennium Village Hall, is now in its 5th year as a purpose built Telecottage offering advice and tuition.

Since opening its extension in 2003 with the aid of grants from the; Government Office for the South East, South East Development Agency and Countryside Agency, the Telecottage has been visited by over 750 people, with 330 registering on one of the computer courses run regularly at the hall. The unique Centre is run entirely by volunteers who have many years experience in using information technology.

More casual sessions are run every Saturday morning 10 – 12, which offers free advice on computer problems, as well as using the facilities to send emails or surf the Internet. Three lap top computers are also available to hire for a small additional fee.

During courses, the instructor projects information on to a large screen which beginners find particularly helpful to follow at a leisurely pace. The atmosphere is friendly and people of all ages quickly gain confidence in acquiring many new skills and friends.

Currently, the most commonly used course has been Basic IT, aimed at beginners wishing to learn the first steps in using a computer, and then progressing to an intermediate level. Other popular courses have been basic and intermediate Word Processing, Internet instruction, Desk Top Publishing, Digital Photography and Data Planning (Spreadsheets). There has recently been much interest in short courses on how to buy and sell safely on E-bay. The Telecottage, registered as an Associate Centre under the BBC’s World War 2 “Peoples War” website, encourages visitors to that site to share their own memories of key moments during the war. Advice can be also given to encourage families to extend their own Family Tree detail.

The Telecottage has recently received a further grant from the “European Leader Plus” fund to enable it to develop additional services at the computer room, thereby benefiting villages and local rural communities.

If you have an interest in any subject, it is important to contact Alison in order to register your requirements. Should there be sufficient numbers it might be possible to run additional courses. The Telecottage welcomes new volunteers and tutors.

Contact Alison Ritchey, telephone 01233 756366