A CHARITY is making the most of social media for residents in Dumbarton and the Vale to help them stay digitally connected.

Neighbourhood Networks is a peer support service, which builds connections with people in West Dunbartonshire with physical or learning disabilities and had been planning a digital platform for members prior to lockdown.

Since early March the organisation have made it crucial as a mean of contact to family and friends for their members isolated in their own homes.

Claire Strong is the Network Manager for Neighbourhood Networks. She helps to organise the activities and checks up on the members every few days.

She told the Reporter: “We want to promote our main ethos which is anything is possible.

“We help individuals recognise the skills that they have got and help them to learn new ones.

“Some of our members are in their late 60s and have never used social media before and have never worked a mobile phone.”

Claire said one member was gifted a smartphone during lockdown and after a few sessions of learning how to work Facebook and video calling he was able to see his sister - who lives on the other side of the world - through a screen for the first time.

She said: “I have been so proud of him because it is the little things that they are learning that are making the biggest differences to their lives and we take for granted.”

Members can also access online cooking classes with videos posted on their Facebook page to experiment with in their own time.

Like other charities and organisations Neighbourhood Networks has received Scottish Government funding to buy smart phones and data for their members.

The phones are already installed with apps such as Whatsapp, Facebook and Zoom and members can now video call family, shop online and stay connected to the world when they are indoors.

Every Thursday the members can also take part in mindfulness and exercise classes to help the mental health impact and on Fridays the members can celebrate with a party from a professional singer accepting song requests.

Although Claire helps the members in Dumbarton and the Vale she firmly believes the support doesn’t stop there.

She said: “Our work is based in West Dunbartonshire but it also opens the door for other people to get to know people from different areas. It has been really inspiring to see how our services changes, but also we can maintain offering the vital support during a crisis.”