Age Concern and Help the Aged DigiOlympics

The online games competition for older people was the very first Age Concern and Help the Aged DigiOlympics‚ sponsored by BT.

Ms Sanderson said of the games, "I would like to congratulate Wimbledon Guild on winning the DigiOlympics 2010. As this event shows‚ the internet is a fantastic way to bring people together. Hopefully this is just the start of gold medals coming the way of Londoners."

The two teams are getting in the spirit of the London 2012 Olympics which are now only two years away. Competing against each other in the online games, including Mario Kart and Wii Tennis. The purpose of the games event was to show older people the enormous potential of the internet and there is much for older people to enjoy from emailing and keeping in touch with friends and family to enjoying online games.

Chief Executive of Wimbledon Guild (Social Welfare) Russell Humphreys‚ said, “I am delighted that we have won the DigiOlympics and I hope that it inspires other older people to enjoy similar technology and to get online.”

Charity Director at Age Concern and Help the Aged Michelle Mitchell said that there were 6.4 million people over 65 who had never yet been online. There were a multitude of things available for older people to enjoy doing on the internet, which "can provide something for everyone".

The games follow the Internet Champions of the Year for 2010 competition which took place on 2 February this year.

Lucy Berry‚ 80‚ and Frederick Briggs‚ 72‚ helped to inspire the 6.4 million older people who have never used the internet to get online. They demonstrated to older people that it's easy to enjoy the many benefits the internet has to offer. The runners up were Mary Elliott‚ 81‚ and Eve Weston‚ 87 who all received hearty congratulations.

It has been found that that older people are more likely to be interested in using the internet, and technology generally, if their family and friends are also doing so. Interestingly‚ according to statistics, when older people do use the internet‚ they actually spend more time online than do younger adults. It's clear that older people are just as interested in the internet as younger people and that age is not an issue when an older person has been shown the online ropes!

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