Marita’s digital progress leads all the way to the House of Lords

It would never have occurred to Marita Sherwood that joining a St Loye’s Foundation Families Action Programme and improving her online skills would lead to an invitation to the House of Lords but that’s just what happened to the 32 year-old mother of three from Bath.

Accompanied by Lisa Starbuck, St Loye’s Key Family Mentor for Bath & North East Somerset and Debbie Hale, St Loye’s Operational Lead for Learning & Skills, Marita attended the launch of a ‘Digital Inclusion’ campaign at the House of Lords hosted by the Tinder Foundation and its Chairman, Lord Knight of Weymouth. The Tinder Foundation is a not-for-profit social enterprise that helps people to gain digital skills and is having considerable impact in closing the digital divide.

Lisa Starbuck said: “I began supporting Marita in January when our initial aims were to work on managing her health, building confidence, improving online skills and experience to help move her closer to the labour market.

“We set her up with an online learning platform called ‘Learn My Way’ which is owned by the Tinder Foundation and she made real progress in different areas, including health, maths and English, online safety and volunteering.

“In recognition of her rapid progress, Marita was selected to become a ‘face’ of Learn my Way for its ‘I’m staying healthy online, campaign which will go live in October.”

The result has been a case study focussing on Marita finding a healthier, happier life online, taking control of her health and finding new confidence, thanks to computers and the internet.  Representatives from the Tinder Foundation did a photo shoot with Marita in Bath for their campaign posters and this added to her growing confidence.

Marita said: “It’s all happened so very quickly.  I am feeling so much more confident in myself and I would never have dreamt that someone would be interested in me for a poster campaign.  It was an added bonus to be invited to the House of Lords.  I can’t express how grateful I am to Lisa and St Loye’s for their wonderful support and guidance.”

Marita and Lisa attended the reception at the House of Lords meeting people from other Tinder Foundation UK Online Centres and hearing speeches from Lord Knight, Matthew Hancock MP, Minister for Skills and Enterprise and Helen Milner Chief Executive, Tinder Foundation who mentioned Marita in her address.

Lisa Starbuck, added: ”When we arrived Marita was recognised straightaway by those from the Tinder Foundation who had seen the pictures and posters that will be used for the Campaign. She was quite shocked that people took the opportunity to talk to her to find out more about her on-line journey and to tell her she was such an inspiration.

”It has certainly been an inspiration to me to see the fantastic transformation of Marita and I am very grateful for playing a part in that.”

The Tinder Foundation Digital Inclusion event took place at the House of Lords on Tuesday 8 July 2014.