Changing Lives Through Digital: Eilidh’s Story
We have just completed our Get Connected Pilot to help people during Covid-19. One of our services users, Eilidh, received a smartphone, unlimited data and support. This is how it changed her life:
The lockdown resulting from COVID-19 has been particularly tough for Eilidh, who lives alone. Eilidh has first hand experience of homelessness. She has long-term health conditions and addiction issues, and so being stuck at home has really impacted on her wellbeing, and she has felt really alone.
Eilidh has an old laptop under her bed, but she couldn’t afford internet connection, and she never quite got to grips with it. It just always felt alien to her, and so she wasn’t sure if the Get Connected Project would help.
Eilidh received a phone last week, with unlimited data, and she couldn’t be more excited about it. While she just couldn’t get along with the old laptop, the phone feels immediately familiar to her, and she has taken to it instantly. The first thing she did was contact her parents on WhatsApp, and was thrilled to see them. ‘It’s been so brilliant to WhatsApp my parents down on England – it’s been so great to actually see them. The phone has been an absolute lifesaver’. She’s in touch with them almost daily now, which is making lockdown much easier to cope with.
Roz, Eilidh’s support worker, can also see the huge difference the phone is making. ‘I know Eilidh is a real people person, and she has often been really isolated as a result of her condition. The phone is changing her life. It seems like such a small thing, but the difference it’s making is so huge.’
Here is a short video of Eilidh explaining what the smartphone means to her in her own words:
#ChangingLivesThroughDigital
Click here to learn more about the pilot and how it helped people change their lives.
