From the Chair
It’s great to see SeniorNet Kapiti up and running (OK, sprinting!) in Term 4. Many of our classes and workshops are full or near full which is exceptionally pleasing for the Tutors and Committee after the significant activity slowdown of COVID-19. With everyone so busy, it’s a opportune time for me to remind our members that everyone involved in the running of SeniorNet gives their time for free. Actually, they also pay their membership fee…. for the privilege of taking your bookings on the phone, managing the membership list, organising the tutors, keeping the computers running and most of all, the special treat of teaching you stuff about computers! With the festive season almost upon us, it’s a great time to thank a tutor or make Elaine’s day by booking one last course for 2020.
In my role as Wellington Regional Representative, I’ve been privileged to visit all the other Learning Centres in the Region. What’s struck me the most is how different we all are – some are small while some like ourselves, have large membership numbers. Some are struggling with expensive rental costs while others, have a special relationship with their landlords making balancing the books so much easier. To add to the mix, different teaching methods are used across the region ranging from one-on-one teaching by appointment only to our full classroom approach. Most importantly though, despite our differences, we’re all part of the SeniorNet NZ Family and focussed on one thing – teaching computer skills to seniors in a fun way. We share what we’ve learned and how we teach and we’re getting much better at sharing our teaching material through the new “Resources Centre” on the Federation website. I’m really enjoying seeing all the differences and sharing them with each Learning Centre as I visit.
With the warmer weather coming and many of you wanting to stretch your legs, don’t forget that we now have a bike rack behind the Learning Centre where you can securely lock your bike. Please don’t use the entrance railing as this creates a safety risk for other members coming and going. We have room for up to 4 bikes in the new racks.
I look forward to seeing you all at the Christmas Function on 9 December at 4:00pm.
Peter Bunkall
Chair, SeniorNet Kapiti Inc.
Our Christmas Function
All current members and partners are invited to our annual Christmas function the The Learning Centre on
Wednesday 9 December from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible so we can celebrate surviving the rough and tumble that was 2020! The committee will be there in force to welcome you, the bar and nibbles counter will be well stocked and we’ll even have some Christmas decorations and door prizes!
For catering purposes we need you to confirm your (and your partner’s) attendance asap.
Please contact Elaine (email SNKBookings@gmail.com or Phone her on 021 169 6256) .
Noel Leeming Xmas Promotion
In a well-timed, pre-Christmas move, Noel Leeming have announced an ‘Amazing Deals’ promotion, with discounts beyond the usual for SeniorNet members. Examples include iPhones at cost, and flat screen TV’s at cost plus 5% – that’s a monumental saving if you were thinking of upgrading your old telly, washing machine, coffee machine or dryer!
The full range of deals is outlined on the brochure which can be seen here. Click the image at left for a readable version.
To take advantage of the offer, just take your SeniorNet Membership card and a copy of the brochure along with you so they can scan the barcode.
Scam Awareness Week
This week, as part of national Scam Awareness Week, we hosted two experts from Westpac who presented the latest information on scams and how to avoid them. Our thanks to Sue and Simon for their interesting session and to the 40 members who attended, listened and engaged with our visitors. It’s great to see one of our national sponsors joining us at the coalface and it’s especially timely as Westpac have just signed a new 3yr sponsorship contract with SeniorNet NZ.
Transmission Gully Update
Lots of our members are interested in the progress of our local Major Infrastructure Project, Transmission Gully. You can subscribe to a regular newsletter (latest one is here) which keeps you up to date with progress (or lack of!).
This month’s newsletter contains a fascinating video, with commentary, taken from a drone. It highlights progress in a number of the key areas of the 27km project.
Click here to watch the video
Term 4 is well underway!
Our Term 4 timetables is still available on our web site here
There are still a few places left on our regular courses and workshops so we encourage you to contact Elaine (email SNKBookings@gmail.com or phone 021 169 6256) early to ensure that there is room for you on the course or workshop of your choice.
Gizmoe Newsletter
The Gizmoe newsletter is published roughly every 2 months by The SeniorNet Federation. The latest version is here and you can also find lots of previous versions here on the Federation’s website
Fancy Helping Out at SeniorNet?
At SeniorNet Kapiti, we’re always looking for more pairs of hands to help out with courses, workshops and functions. You do not have to be a techie or have even attended the course or workshop before – you just have to volunteer! Members who assist our Tutors tell us that they learn so much more about what’s being taught in the classroom by just observing and helping out.
If you’d like to volunteer to help, even if it’s just making tea and coffee and registering course attendees, please contact Sue at SNKSecretary@gmail.com or call and leave a message on the office answerphone (04) 299 0753 – someone will get back to you.
Sponsor News
We have a number of new members as a result of the AMI Sponsorship and we welcome them to SeniorNet Kapiti. We’re here to help you use any computer technology you may have and of course we can show you how to access the AMI website to do your insurance business.
SeniorNet Kapiti members who are already AMI customers will be contacted shortly with a very special offer so make sure you always check out our emails.
Westpac have recently renewed their sponsorship of SeniorNet for a further 3yrs. In a recent note to their (50yr+) customers signalling a termination date (July 2021) for cheques, they specifically indicated that SeniorNet can help with Internet Banking.
At SeniorNet Kapiti, we run one Internet Banking Workshop every term so if you are still uncomfortable about paying for things online or checking your balances on your smartphone, why not enrol for the next Workshop in Term 1, 2021 and we’ll spend some time explaining how things work with you. While this Workshop is sponsored by Westpac and takes the opportunity to play with the Westpac Internet Banking System, customers from any bank are encouraged to attend. We don’t push brands at SeniorNet – we teach how things work and how you can take advantage of them.
Please Support our Sponsors
Please don’t forget to support our National sponsors – they’re important to SeniorNet and help us at the local level in many ways, including offering discounts to our members. They will all appreciate your support to help rebuild their businesses. Always show your membership card and ask if there’s a discount – you might be rather surprised! The best example is Noel Leeming where the SeniorNet discount extends well beyond computers to everything in their store! Suzuki also offer our members a discount on new vehicles so it always pays to ask.
Kapiti SeniorNet 
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