Help / People who come to them
Help with a phone, tablet or the TV
A device that has stopped making sense is more isolating than it sounds — it is often how someone keeps up with grandchildren, does the banking, or books a doctor. Getting it working again gives a lot back.
The free programs worth knowing
Several free programs teach older people to use phones, tablets and computers — many run through local libraries and community centres, some one-on-one. Be Connected is the national one, with free lessons online and in person.
For patient, no-cost, ongoing help these are usually better than a paid call-out — and a way for someone to build confidence rather than depend on a fix.
When you just need it fixed
Sometimes it is not a lesson, it is a setup — the new TV, the wifi that keeps dropping, a phone that needs its updates and its apps sorted. That is an ordinary tech-help job, and local providers do it.
Describe it to AskFam and it will point you at people nearby who do exactly this.
Set it up to stay working
The visits that help most leave things simpler than they found them — bigger text, fewer icons, the two apps they actually use on the front screen, a written note of passwords kept somewhere safe.
Worth asking for that outright. "Make it easy for Dad to use on his own" is a better brief than "fix the iPad".
What AskFam does and does not do
AskFam works out what you need and points you at services that already exist. It does not employ anyone, does not arrange the work, and takes no fee or commission — from you or from them.
It also has not checked anybody. Where you see a business listed, that is a public listing, not a recommendation. Where somebody offers on a job you posted, that is them describing themselves, in their own words. Ask for what matters to you, and take your time about it.
Want AskFam to work out who covers this near you? Describe it in your own words — we will tell you exactly what to ask for.