Lend a helping hand before digital switchover (From Salisbury Journal)

Lend a helping hand before digital switchover

1:30pm Friday 27th January 2012 in News By Corey Ross

SALISBURY residents are being urged to lend a helping hand to make sure elderly people are prepared for the switchover to digital TV.

The Switchover Help Scheme is running a Helping Hand campaign to make sure every eligible older and disabled person in the area knows about the help they can get from the BBC-run scheme to convert one of their TV sets to digital.

The Rowridge transmitter, which serves Wiltshire, parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, parts of Dorset and West Sussex, will switch to digital on March 7.

Eligible people in the Rowridge transmitter area have been posted a help scheme information pack but John Potter, vice chairman of Salisbury City Community Area Partnership (SCCAP), is urging everyone who has already switched to digital to reach out to those older and disabled people who may still need help.

Mr Potter said: “I think the help scheme is an excellent opportunity for people to get practical help at a time when they need it. I work with a number of voluntary support organisations in an attempt to trigger and nudge others to think about supporting the community in a number of ways. The help scheme is a good example of how it should be done, practical and useful.”

Partner organisation Wessex Community Action is holding an event on Tuesday, February 7 at Greencroft House from 11am until 1pm to help spread the helping hand message.

People are eligible for help if they are aged 75 or over, have lived in a care home for at least six months or get Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance or Constant Attendance Allowance, mobility supplement or if they are registered blind or partially sighted.

To find out more about the scheme go to helpscheme.co.uk.