Disabled on Line

Hello again, My article this time is all about A Cyber cafe i have become involved in over the last three and a half years. Well a few years ago i bought a computer for my sins and i learned how to touch type with the help of cassettes and also learned some of the basic skills , but i got as far as i could get on my own and was getting rather frustrated with it all. That was until i heard a advert telling me all about a Cyber cafe that had opened to help with computer skills for all disabled people, so off i went by bus with my Guide dog Ollie. They were brilliant and now i am quite proficient on the computer and internet, and have been going since. Then last year the bomb shell hit, the funding was withdrawn, and it looked like it was going to close and that would have been a disaster as not only is it a place for people to learn computer skills it is a place to have a chat over a cup of tea and pass on information. For some of the people it is the only chance they have to get out. So we had a meeting and decided to try and go it alone. Straight away we set up a committee with a Chairman, secretary and directors of which i am one. We had various meetings with counsellors and potential sponsors, and sought charitable status, which we now have but it was all a real struggle and to be honest six weeks ago it looked a bit pear shaped until the money started coming in and now it appears we have enough to take us well into next year but this will be a on going battle, but the team we have will not go down without a fight Our new company name is now Disabled on Line and serves the West wilts area, and is free to all disabled people with six computers with screen readers and other equipment. The whole place is overseen by Mr Keith Turner who helps and advises us on what we are doing and in turn we are all helped by Jayne Web who looks out for us all and makes a smashing cup of tea. It is a real friendly atmosphere. We are currently building a Web site which will be growing, so give it a hit once in a while.
www.disabledonline.org.uk and for those of you that can see, when you get to the pictures i am the big hairy one with the dog, he's the better looking one of us with better breath as well. HA! All the best from Roy Cox in Westbury in sunny Wiltshire.