With 8.7 million adults in the UK having never used the internet, Mecca Bingo is joining a number of other parties and the UK’s Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox, in helping and encouraging people experiment online. A campaign is being launched to get parties to use an hour of their time when the clocks go back this month to help others.

Race Online 2012, which has partnered up with the Scouts, Jobcentre Plus, Post Offices and Mecca Bingo clubs, is hoping to inspire thousands of local digital champions via www.go-on.co.uk/giveanhour. BBC TV and radio stars and programmes will also support the campaign.

The idea behind Race Online 2012 launched earlier this year is to get as many people as possible online by the time the 2012 Olympics come around. With everyone getting an extra hour as the clocks go back on 30th October this is being deemed a perfect time for people to lend a hand.

Helena Herklots, of Age UK, commented “Encouraging people to spend the extra hour they get when the clocks change helping someone to get online is a great idea. Older people are far more likely to use the Internet if they are taught by friends and family and 58 per cent of older people (5.7 million) aged 65+ have never used the web.”

The involvement of Mecca Bingo will be ideal for the campaign as typically bingo clubs attract some of the older generation that are unlikely to be using the web. On Monday, October 31, the staff of ninety-nine Mecca bingo clubs across the UK will hold internet taster sessions throughout the day, with free tea and biscuits for early starters in support of the campaign.

With nine out of ten new jobs requiring online applications, however, and web users commanding salaries on average 10 per cent higher than non-users, the Government is keen to improve usage rates.

Research from Ofcom and the BBC showed that many people still doubt the benefits of being online, citing “a lack of awareness of the benefits of being on the web and initial lack of confidence in taking their first steps online”.