'Greig' - Community Support

Supported by Simon Community Scotland

Greig received a Chromebook in early March 2024. Greig has been supported by Simon Community Scotland for a few years and we have followed his journey with interest.

Greig came to Simon Community for support during a period of experiencing homelessness and drug addiction, which the charity supported him through. More recently, Greig moved into a Simon Community property, and has started to look to the future with positivity.

Last year we got him connected to the internet with a smartphone through the Digital Lifelines programme. This enabled us to provide him with a Smartphone, unlimited connectivity for 12 months and, most importantly, the person centred support that was provided by his support worker. It was through this new connection to digital that he started to explore and share his love of art.

Grieg is so talented and loves to share his art on his phone. He searches for content that interests him, particularly ancient Egyptian images and hieroglyphics which he recreates in his art. He proudly displays these pictures in his new tenancy and we have a couple hanging in the Street Reads Library.

He also plays guitar and is in a band. He uses his smartphone to download music and research bands that he likes.

He reached the point where he needed additional digital access so he could thrive in the digital world and the Chromebook gives him this opportunity. A few weeks ago he enrolled in a three month Access to Industry digital course, where he is currently learning about word processing, the Cloud and how to get the most out of his laptop.

As for his hobbies, he is really benefiting from the additional access that the laptop gives him and he is learning new things everyday. He has been coming to a digital drop-in that we host at the Street Reads library on a Thursday afternoon and we have been showing him how to share his art across platforms and store it in the cloud.

Greig is always so positive about life now. We love seeing his progress and what he is achieving and we look forward to hearing about what is next in Greig’s life.