What I do

Hi there, my name is Heather and I am a trainer at Wendouree Neighbourhood Centre, Creswick Neighbourhood Centre and Ballarat North Neighbourhood Centre in Ballarat, Victoria.

I am married and have two daughters and six grandchildren, (4 granddaughters and 2 grandsons). My grandchildren are the light of my life. They range in age from 7 to 19 and 4 live in Tasmania and the other 2 live here in Ballarat.

My work: I teach people how to use a computer from the very basics of turning it on, the components that make up a computer to Microsoft Office applications like Word, Excel and Publisher.

I have been involved with computers for around 11 years now, although I used to use them in my work in the early 90s, but those programs were usually specific to the job and we were trained in their use. When I gave up work I didn't touch a computer again until 2002 when I became a volunteer at an Online Access Centre in Tasmania. There I did a couple of courses and gradually "learnt on the job". 

Because health issues prevented me from returning to the type of work that I used to do, I found that I really enjoyed working with computers and gradually as I became more competent, I started teaching others how to use a computer. I focused specifically on older people who wanted to "get into the 21st century" and probably because the majority of those people were around my age, they related well to my teaching methods.

I continued volunteering for 6 years and also became a relief Co-ordinator moving round different Centres when the Co-ordinators were on holidays. In 2008 I became Co-ordinator of the Bagdad Online Access Centre. Bagdad is a small rural town about 30 kilometres north of Hobart and about 15 kilometres from where I lived. I loved my work there and continued to upgrade my skills by doing some professional development courses as well as starting some university study. I didn't necessarily want to do a degree, just wanted to study for personal development. So I completed a number of units through Open Universities Australia, studying online and mostly units related to computers and the Internet.

In 2010, after two and a half years at Bagdad and a wonderful surprise farewell party, we moved to Ballarat to be closer to our youngest daughter and her two children. It wasn't long before I hankered to be back doing what I loved - teaching people how to use computers, so I found the local Neighbourhood Houses and became a volunteer helping out with administrative duties until I finally managed to convince the Manager that I could be a trainer, and so started my part-time career as a trainer. I also went back to study and did my TAE Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, so I can now teach accredited courses.

All in all, I now work with 3 Neighbourhood Centres delivering pre-accredited training and love (mostly) every minute of it. And I think that is enough about me.