"“The things I’ve learned through this programme now matter far more than I’d ever imagined they would. Although at the moment I’m cocooning (in a remote area) and I don’t have broadband, I can still do everything on the phone that I would do on the laptop at home. I can use the phone for: Banking, checking my accounts, paying by visa, money transfers. Reading and sending emails. Google’s my best friend… for recipes, helping to solve problems and getting information. I use Facebook and Messenger to keep in touch with what’s going on. I use the phone a lot especially for WhatsApp so it costs me hardly anything to talk to my sister in America. My son’s set me up with an app so I can monitor my daily exercises. I try to do 6,000 steps a day around the garden. I use it also for taking photos and sending them to people. If I couldn’t do those things, I would be so lonely. I have one visit a day from my son who talks to me through the window and apart from that, no contact. It’s a great substitute if you can’t be with people physically, and it’s a great reassurance for my family to know that I can be in touch with them and them with me and keep checking in on me.”"

Jacqueline Cullinane, Getting Started Programme Learner Cork, Age 86