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Fiona Bruce and a host of Ö÷²¥´óÐã celebrities will be encouraging people to donate their 'free' hour when the clocks go back on Sunday 30 October to introduce someone to the internet for the first time.

The Ö÷²¥´óÐã is leading the way with Give an Hour, a major national campaign. Alongside its many partners, the Ö÷²¥´óÐã will be encouraging the estimated 30 million people in the UK who use the internet regularly to help the estimated 8.7 million (source: ONS surveys) who are still offline to get started by 'giving an hour'.

Fiona Bruce says: "The internet is an incredible thing. Helping someone go online can open their world beyond the four walls of their home. They can keep in touch with friends and family which is so important. They can do useful things, they can go shopping, and they can have fun. So go on, give an hour."

Research conducted for the Ö÷²¥´óÐã has shown that friends and families play an integral role in inspiring and helping others to get online. Of people in the UK who know someone who doesn't use the internet, 86% say they are 'quite likely' or 'very likely' to help someone get online.

The Ö÷²¥´óÐã has produced a showcase of short films presented by well-known TV faces to provide an introduction to the internet and inspiration for ways to give an hour and show someone the benefits of being online.

Themed around passions and interests the new films cover topics from sport to cooking, and how to stay in touch with family and friends, to managing your money and health.

The films can be used by 'digital champions', who are already confident online, to show their offline friends, family and neighbours how easily the internet can enhance enjoyment of hobbies and interests and enrich everyone's life.

The films are accompanied by a series of written guides and a handbook on how to use the extra hour most effectively to introduce someone to the internet.

All the ideas and information people may need can be downloaded at .

Former Olympic athlete Colin Jackson reveals how he got into his chosen sport of athletics and the importance of his parents' support. He uses the internet to check out his opponents' sporting statistics and as a contributor to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sports Academy website shares tips on how to raise your game.

Colin says: "If sport is your passion the internet is a magical world."

Something For The Weekend chef Simon Rimmer demonstrates how the internet is a great source of inspiration for him. Says Simon: "I'm too old to have been taught anything about computers at school. I was a bit of a Luddite. The internet revolutionised what I could do as a chef. It gives a whole world of resources to me."

He adds: "If you are stuck for inspiration go online, get on to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã recipe finder; key in whatever you've got sitting in your fridge and you will find the answer to your cooking dilemmas – it's brilliant!"

Independent financial expert Alvin Hall shares what he learnt about money early on in life and explains how the internet has the tools and information to enable us all to manage our finances better.

"I like the internet because it puts control and access to information in your hands," he says. Alvin recently conquered his long-held fear of swimming and suggests if you are fearful of the internet, just jump in the deep end.

BAFTA-nominated actress Lesley Manville knows the importance of staying healthy. She uses the internet to search for health foods and reveals how the internet also provided her and her family with useful information when her mother was diagnosed with dementia.

Lesley says: "It helped me to understand what my mother was going through. Computers will change your life – and it makes shopping quite nice as well!"

And Fiona Bruce meets 90-year-old Barbara at a beginners' computer course in London and introduces her to the wealth of information available online, from how to plant a gooseberry bush to where to find the favourite TV programmes she has missed.

The Ö÷²¥´óÐã will be running a three-week promotional campaign on TV and radio networks across the country from 24 October.

The Ö÷²¥´óÐã's Give an Hour is in partnership with Go ON Give an Hour, working with a wide range of partner organisations including Race Online 2012, UK Online Centres, The Post Office and Age UK, to help reduce the number of off-liners.

The Ö÷²¥´óÐã's TV, radio and local radio output will also be supporting the campaign with activity to explain the benefits of using the internet. Many celebrities including Bill Oddie, Stephen Fry, Gabby Logan and Christopher Eccleston have also lent their support to the campaign and feature in a .

To find out how you can help someone to get online go to: .

For more information about local beginners' computer courses ring the freephone advice line 08000 150 950. Lines are open 8am to 10pm, 7 days a week.

People can also make a pledge online and join the many others who have already signed up to the Digital Champion Network.

Go on: give your hour to a friend, neighbour or member of your family to show them the wonders of the web.

Notes to editors

• Give an Hour is part of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's ongoing commitment to Media Literacy. Give an Hour builds on the huge success of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Learning's First Click campaign which helped reduce the numbers of off-liners by around half a million to 8.7m (ONS Survey, quarterly update 2011)
• The Ö÷²¥´óÐã has delivered on its promise to continue to build on the First Click campaign, to support the digital champions' network and play a lead role with partners in this national campaign to get people online.
• Race Online 2012, founded by the UK's Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox, recently announced a 100,000 strong national network of local volunteer 'digital champions'. The aim of the network is to address the research findings of Ofcom and the Ö÷²¥´óÐã which showed a limited awareness of the benefits of being on the internet. The research also indicated that a lack of confidence is one of the biggest barriers to internet take-up by non-users and that families and friends played a key role for nearly all recent adopters.
• A 'digital champion' is someone who supports their family, friends, colleagues or customers to get all the benefits that the internet can bring. They can inspire people to take their first steps online by telling them about a site or service that matches their interests, showing them how to use the web, and helping people to gain internet access.
• Go ON Give an Hour will be the biggest consumer-focused campaign to date devoted to inspiring, encouraging and supporting the UK to become a truly networked nation. There will be many Go ON events taking place during October for internet beginners across the UK.
• Research conducted for the Ö÷²¥´óÐã by Ipsos Mori/Essential Research Nov 2009, Dipstick Research, September 2011.

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