“What’s so special about the Internet?” I hear you say.  Well, plenty!  It might not change your world overnight, but what it can do is open your eyes to a whole new way of doing things.

It can give you information at your finger tips, make contacting far away friends (and even your grand children!) easier and save you time and effort when it comes to the boring, tedious and time consuming tasks we all have to do! 

And I’m assuming that just by logging on and reading this you’re at least curious as to what Hyndburn Life and the internet can do for you – so why not read on? …….

So what do I mean ‘information at your finger tips?’ and what kind of information is on the ‘net anyway?  The truth is there is allsorts of useful stuff out there – and much of it is bound to be of interest to you.  This might be information on health from the NHS, accessing information about what welfare benefits you’re entitled to, you could even order your repeat prescription online!

It might be that you could make use of one of the support groups that are online – people with a common interest or problem can come together using the Internet and offer advice and support.

And if you’re just looking for some entertainment, there’s plenty of information about hobbies, events, travel and anything else you care to mention.

But there’s more to the internet than just reading information.  You can access services that previously took much more effort and may not have been possible.  Take shopping, for example.  Many older people find getting to the supermarket difficult, maybe because of transport difficulties, or perhaps because it’s just too tiring. 

To get around this, most of the major supermarkets now offer an online shopping service; you select what you want to buy on their website, and they deliver it – usually within 24 hours.  Some companies charge a small fee for this delivery, but others provide this service free of charge.  It’s benefits like this that can make using the Internet really worthwhile.

Banking is another example – why traipse into town and queue if you don’t have to?  All the major banks now provide internet banking facilities which allow you to pay bills, keep an eye on your finances and pretty much everything else you can do at a branch – apart from withdraw cash, of course! 

If all this sounds just a bit too adventurous for you, that’s fine.  Start off with the basics and you’ll quickly learn that Hyndburn Life and the Internet in general can be of great use to you.  Give it a go, join the legions of  'surfers’ already reaping the benefits!

Good luck!