Save Holly Lodge Online Centre Highgate N6

Sign up to protest to the government and Camden Council and to ask them to stop the cutting of funding to and thus the closure of the Online Centre at Holly Lodge Estate London N6. The majority of the people who use the Online Centre cannot afford the start up and running costs of a computer and internet access at home - those on benefits are already living below the poverty level. It will actively prevent them from looking for work, gaining skills, reading the newspapers online and being part of the (dare I say it) 'big society' - what we used to call community. The community centre and the online centre are a lifeline for us. Many of the elderly residents, in their eighties and 90s, have been able to keep in touch with family through the internet. They order their groceries online and come and play solitaire and games on the computers, keeping them active and independent, as well as interested in the outside world. The local children come in to play games and come in after school with their parents sometimes daily to research for their homework. The play sessions in the holidays for local children come in to use the computers for their projects. Those who are unemployed come in to look for work and prepare and send job applications. Others, many of them retired, come in to organise photographs, build themselves a website, or prepare for their volunteer work at local organisations such as Highgate Cemetery. The WEA and other adult education organisations use the computers for training for adults - such as the oversubscribed and popular video and film training, and IT sessions for all levels from beginners upwards. There are many volunteers who work with users to improve their IT skills and support disabled local people to use the internet. All these users are contributing to the local and national economy: they are upskilling and learning, they are keeping themselves healthy and independent, they are looking for work, and they are creating and supporting our local community. Without the online centre there will be no reason for people to come to the centre in this fluid and flexible way. The number of users will fall again and the number of volunteers who also support the older people and the luncheon club will also drop. It may impact adversely on future funding for the Community Centre. The Holly Lodge Estate Community Centre where the Online Centre is situated serves a community which is one of the most deprived in London. The Estate still has accommodation with no central heating, and accommodation with shared baths and toilets, and has a mixture of short-term insecure tenancies, council tenants, private tenants, leaseholders, and elderly people, many in the sheltered housing block above the community centre. There is a high level of long-term illness, disability, and increasing unemployment. The average income level is low, with many including families on benefits. Many people have no washing machine, no private bathroom, and no access to the internet. Taking internet access away is striking at the heart of a community where IT skills and internet access are most needed. Sign up to protest against this cut to our community - tell your friends and neighbours too.