For Antony, joining South Bank Colleges’ SWAP digital skills programme was about more than simply learning how to use computers. It was about building confidence, improving employability, and taking positive steps towards future work opportunities.
Antony, who travelled in daily from Colliers Wood, recently completed the short digital skills course delivered at the college as part of the SWAP programme. The initiative works in partnership with Jobcentre Plus, helping adults develop practical skills that can support them in finding employment and navigating an increasingly digital world.
During the programme, Antony explored topics including internet safety, online fraud awareness, AI, social media, and the digital tools now commonly used in job searching and applications.
“I’ve never really been very good at IT before,” Antony explained during his interview. “But it helps with job searching and getting into work.”
Like many adults returning to learning, Antony came to the course with valuable life and work experience already behind him. He previously worked for Merton Council and continues to volunteer in community gardening projects, helping grow vegetables, fruit, and plants for local initiatives.
“I like being outside,” he said. “I like creative work.”
That practical, outdoors-focused background made the course a fresh challenge, but also an important one. Antony spoke openly about how much of modern job searching now happens online, from applications to communication with employers and the Job Centre itself.
“It’s all online now,” he said. “The internet skills will help very much.”
One of the areas Antony particularly enjoyed was learning new things he had not encountered before, especially around the internet and social media. While he currently relies mainly on his mobile phone for online access, he hopes to eventually get a laptop to continue building his digital confidence independently.
Supporting Antony throughout the programme was tutor Alison Taylor, who he praised warmly during the interview.
“She’s very helpful,” Antony said. “Very good.”
The SWAP programme is designed to help learners gain both practical digital knowledge and the confidence needed to take their next steps towards employment, training, or further study. For learners like Antony, those small steps can make a very real difference.
Whether it is improving online job applications, understanding internet safety, or simply feeling more comfortable using digital technology day-to-day, the programme aims to open doors that can sometimes feel closed off by the fast-moving digital world.
And for Antony, the experience appears to have done exactly that: providing not just new knowledge, but renewed confidence for the road ahead.
