I am very pleased to report that Our Digital Planet will be back on the road shortly. Thanks to the support of Nominet Trust and Wigan Council, we will be in Wigan Town Centre from 24th to 29th May, and then in Leigh Town Centre from 30th May to 2nd June.
When I locked up the Internet Station for the last time in Glasgow last November, a profound sense of loss suddenly hit me. This was a bit of a surprise, but, when I analysed it, I realised it was the constant interaction with people that I was missing; the immersion in their daily lives; the feeling that I was being trusted to listen to their stories, and, above all, the deep feeling of satisfaction at being able to do something which I believed would improve their lives.
This is what gave me a determination and a drive to make sure that we could do more of this. So, almost exactly six months after Our Digital Planet left Glasgow, it will be back on the streets again in Wigan and Leigh. I am so looking forward to getting some of those feelings again and being let in to people’s lives. And I hope we can uncover some more gems, like the gentleman who found a video online of his wife as a babe-in-arms being presented to the young Princess Elizabeth in a Maltese maternity hospital; like the lady who was able to connect with her children in the USA; and, of course like Ron. I make no excuse for re-posting the video of Ron below.
And I want as many people as possible to get involved. If you are within striking distance of Wigan, please come down and visit. If you are able to volunteer some time to help people get online, then that would be fabulous. During the week I hope to be doing some live linkups and letting the outside world in on what we are doing, probably using Google+ Hangout, so, please get involved in that. Oh, and we still desperately need 5 laptops / tablets, if you can help with that.
I am very hopeful that Wigan will be the first stop on a national tour for 2013. For that to happen, we need partners to come forward with funding as well as locations.
UPDATE
Here’s James Winterbottom of Wigan Council talking about Our Digital Planet coming to Wigan and Leigh
Here’s Ron, people like him make all this worthwhile
John Popham's Random Musings 
Glad to see it’s back on the road! It’s a great feeling helping people discover the wonders of the web! I know Tim Dalton, our Digital Inclusion Manager at Orbit, is keen to explore potential opportunities for us to become a partner. Might be something we could host as a one off at our next residents’ conferences in September/October. Will get in touch when I’m back from leave.
That should have been Tim Dumbleton… Already in holiday mode!
so many Rons out there. So many.
Thanks John for sharing this.
I see so many people like Ron and you are right it truly is heart warming and gratifying to see the ‘Rons’ of this world take to the Internet especially when you have helped them realise just what and how the Internet can help them.
If the Digital Plant came to Peterboroug or surrounding areas, I’d be more than happy to volunteer.
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