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Solihull Community Housing puts tenants online Chris Deery, Head of ICT at SCH |
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Solihull Community Housing (SCH) is always looking for ways to give outstanding service to its tenants, and to be a national leader in its core business of social housing.
As part of that commitment, SCH was already offering various customer-service focused schemes online. Then in January 2008, as part of their preparations for an inspection by the Audit Commission, SCH decided to embark on a groundbreaking project: turning high-rise apartment buildings into broadband access points.
It was an initiative that would lead to them being given an award for the ‘most innovative project’ by the National Federation of ALMOS (NFA), the
The opportunity
In today’s world, when people aren’t connected to the Internet they are disconnected from a huge number of opportunities and the advantages that an internet connection brings.
As part of their dialogue with tenants, SCH understood that the cost of a computer and the monthly connection charges for internet access were beyond many household budgets. Through research, SCH implemented one internet connection that only needed a special mini-modem that plugs into any standard 3-pin electricity plug in each flat. This gives fast (four Mb per second) connection from any room. In addition, SCH worked with local charity, ReCOM to helped residents with no existing IT equipment to receive a free, reconditioned PC along with training.
The outcome
Enabling people to learn about IT and to be connected has further advantages, than just the obvious ones. As Chris points out, “people in this hotspot are learning so many new skills, suddenly they’re becoming more employable. It’s a message we’re getting out to businesses, hoping that they’ll be tempted to move into the area and tap into the emerging skills market and wireless access.”
A tenant of SCH, Sarah King comments,
“getting this computer has made my life a lot easier. I can do my shopping; I can pay my bills and my son can do his homework. We can just look up anything we need to… plus I have enrolled on a college course as well.”
This comment demonstrates what a fundamental impact internet access can make to a person’s life. She is just one of many SCH residents whose lives have been turned around by the online initiative.
Chris Deery continues, discussing the success of this project, “We are always looking for opportunities to improve quality of life for our tenants. We are currently rolling out our free broadband scheme to another five high-rise blocks.”
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Find out more about Digital Inclusion here