A FAMILIAR face to viewers of the BBC's North West Tonight news programme will be visiting Ormskirk Library to lend his support to an initiative to encourage people to make the most of the internet.

During his visit to the library on February 10, Gordon Burns will join local people as they find out how they can use the internet to do their shopping, find a new hobby, apply for a job, research their family history, use social networking sites such as Facebook and to stay up-to-date with the latest travel information.

The sessions are being organised by Lancashire's Libraries and Information Service and Lancashire Adult Learning. They are part of Lancashire's commitment to the Race Online 2012 campaign which aims to increase the number of people in the country using the internet by the time the Olympic Games start next year.

Gordon is keen to encourage everyone to give the internet a try: "There are still plenty of my generation (mature!) who have not yet embraced the internet and who are perhaps a bit frightened of it. Don't be. Believe me if someone as technologically hopeless as I am can use it competently and confidently, anyone can!

"It's getting almost impossible to cope these days if you aren't online. So take courage and go for it. To email, order shopping, manage your bank accounts and book travel tickets in your own home at whatever time you want is so liberating. I've even downloaded Skype and regularly chat to my close friends in Sydney and Los Angeles

"It's great to see as well as hear them. And you may find this hard to believe but it's totally free! So, do it now. Get online. You'll never look back."

Mike Calvert, Lancashire County Council's Cabinet member for adult and community services, added: "I'd like to thank Gordon for offering his support to this initiative. His story is typical of so many people of our generation. I've had a similar experience with getting to grips with the internet and, as Gordon says, I haven't looked back.

"There's no doubt that people who don't have access to the internet are at a serious disadvantage these days. I'd therefore encourage everyone to go along to Ormskirk Library and to make the most of these excellent sessions."

The session gets underway at 9:30 and will finish at 11am.

More information about the initiative and Lancashire's libraries is available online at www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries