Fond farewell celebration as SeniorNet Whanganui closes after a quarter century

SeniorNet Whanganui secretary Harvey Porteous said he had enjoyed a journey of constant change and lasting friendships. Photo / Bevan Conley

Work surfaces were transformed into a festive table laid with sandwiches and Christmas cake as SeniorNet Whanganui members met for the last time at their Moutoa Quay premises.

The gathering this week celebrated 25 years of digital learning and friendships shared by hundreds of members as technology advanced from desktop computers to laptops, cellphones and hand-held devices. The branch has now closed its doors due to dwindling membership numbers and a scarcity of committee members.

The Whanganui branch of SeniorNet began in October 1997 when 200 people gathered to hear about the new service where senior tutors would help senior students negotiate their way around the new technology.

Dick Bird, who was a foundation member, recalled learning to use the word processor and spreadsheet functions during the days before he first logged on to the internet.

“I came here for 17 years non-stop and, as the technology advanced, there were new classes for new programmes.

“I enjoyed keeping up with all the advances and I met a lot of great people here over the years.”

In announcing the closure, committee secretary Harvey Porteous said the Whanganui branch, which once boasted 300 members, had dwindled to fewer than 50 subscribers and it had become increasingly hard to find tutors and committee members.

Porteous, a former principal of Fordell and St John’s Hill schools, now lives in Waikanae after serving both the Whanganui branch and national SeniorNet organisation.

In his farewell speech at the Whanganui function, Porteous said he began visiting other branches in the early stages to see how they did things.

“I discovered they did things quite differently, in Hāwera for instance. You would pick up some gems of ideas,” he said.

“All the people sitting here now have had a part to play and sitting around a table with five or six of your peers is a great experience for tutors and learners.”

Porteous recalled SeniorNet Whanganui’s move to its upstairs room at the Whanganui Arts Centre building in 2015 after the river burst its banks and flooded the downstairs room the organisation used, destroying all the equipment.

He praised the members who managed to salvage hard-copy records and carefully dried them out to preserve as much as possible.

Former Whanganui Mayor Annette Main cut the ribbon to the stairs leading to the new SeniorNet premises in 2015. Photo / NZME

There was the recollection of an amusing incident when some people found their way to the new premises upstairs, believing they were visiting a dating agency for seniors.

Mary Dean has been a SeniorNet tutor since retiring from her primary school teaching career around seven years ago.

“Harvey is a modest person so he won’t tell you about all he’s done for SeniorNet but his dedication has been phenomenal,” she said.

She had very much enjoyed the transition from teaching very young learners to teaching seniors and would continue to provide one-on-one sessions.

“My husband Alan had been a SeniorNet member so when I was looking for a voluntary job I came here and I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed it.

“Some of our members have now moved to retirement villages and some don’t drive so I’ll continue to visit and provide one-to-one support. The kinds of things people like to do now are chatting online with grandchildren, keeping up with social media and sharing photos. YouTube is very popular as well.

“Then there has been the transition from dumb phones to smartphones.”

Dean said the beauty of SeniorNet’s methodology of seniors teaching seniors worked well because older tutors had patience and empathy with learners.

“Sometimes I’m only one step ahead because of the rapid advances we’re seeing.”

Tutor Kay Walford, who runs her Creative Juices Computing business in Whanganui, got involved after doing a presentation at SeniorNet.

“I’ve been working with a smartphone and tablet group and it is heaps of fun.

“We do Google driving lessons and work with GPS [Global Positioning System]. People feel so good when they become confident with new technology.”

During the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 there was an upsurge in online learning and Ron Shackleton initiated Zoom tutorials to help learners stay connected and provide a forum for questions and answers.

“We connected with SeniorNet members in Manawatū as well. It proved very popular and has continued,” he said.

“It’s become a national thing called seniorhangouts and people can access the sessions as long as they are a SeniorNet member.”

The lasting friendships mentioned by Porteous will continue it seems and although the Whanganui venue is no more, SeniorNet has opened many doors into digital worlds that didn’t exist when the branch was founded.

Liz Wylie is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. She joined the editorial team in 2014 and regularly covers stories from Whanganui and the wider region. She also writes features and profile stories.