Home / ITRM Insights / News / Bridging the Digital Divide: ITRM Brings Tech Confidence to ellenor Hospice
31 Jul 2025
For the second time this year, ITRM has been on hand to help the wonderful ellenor hospice. At the start of this year, the ITRM team used one of our CSR days to help the ellenor hospice transform a piece of rough land in readiness for it to be turned into a landscaped garden space in the grounds of the hospice in Gravesend. Had they had to hire contractors, it would have cost the charity thousands of pounds, but the ITRM heavy-lifting squad stepped in, so they didn’t have to.
This time, we have been able to support them again in a completely different capacity, IT Support. The ITRM Marketing team met with the team at ellenor after they had received requests from community members for help with modern technology and its capabilities.
Initially, we worked with ellenor's team to design a four-week programme that introduced varying levels of technology, delivered via phone or tablet. With the rapid pace of technological advancement, we decided to start with the basics. For the first three weeks, the ITRM team created printable guides, which were presented to the group in a session format. This approach allowed participants to ask questions throughout, while being guided through each topic. One team member led the presentation, while another provided one-to-one demonstrations as needed.
After the presentation, there was an option for more personalised support with any issues that members may have had. The fourth and final week consisted of a Q&A workshop, during which ITRM staff were available to assist with any problems encountered throughout their digital journey.
The ITRM team covered a real range of topics, from simply setting up an email account to exploring the benefits of using a Ring doorbell. These included enhanced security, efficient communication with delivery drivers, and further benefits. One popular topic we provided the group with was information on how to get set up on the NHS app. This has enabled them to track test results, request repeat prescriptions, and perform other tasks and has been of real benefit to them.
We informed them about phishing emails and scams and how to stay safe online. How to use WhatsApp and download family pictures that they want to save. How to delete unwanted or unused apps, and for some of our guests, they even braved the world of social media.
Finally, we learned that one of the problems our audience faced was paying for parking in various hospital car parks. We taught the group how to use parking applications, such as RingGo, as we had been informed that some members of the group had previously been caught out, failing to pay at the new parking lots with digital/contactless payments. We hope this has prevented further fines and helped them feel more secure when going out.
Throughout the group, it has been lovely to see their confidence grow since the start of our programme, with guests feeling better in their ability to act online and we had some laughs along the way.
It was a lovely experience for the ITRM staff, we love working with the ellenor hospice whenever we get the chance and really hope they got as much out of it as we did.
Here’s what one of the attendees had to say about their time spent:
"The IT sessions were brilliant! The team that came were so patient and kind and really guided me through each step on my own device. They didn't expect me to know everything and really encouraged me to ask any question I felt important. I could relate to them and they helped me so much! I hope they come back in the future to teach us more"
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