Tauranga Age Concern manager Tanya Smith says her office wants to help ensure older members of the community are as well-equipped as possible to cope with things like online or telephone banking, in the event the regional COVID-19 alert level returns to three or four.

Age Concern has been working with banks to help educate and work alongside older people by running workshops but these have been put on hold for now as a result of last week's move to Alert Level 2.

Some members of the aged community have been relying on cash and cheques, says Tanya, and Aged Concern is keen to provide help for those wanting to make the transition to an alternative way of doing things.

Thanks to funding received from ANZ bank, Age Concern's national office has been able to plan workshops around the country next year however these have had to be put on hold.

With what's been happening lately, next year's workshops may be a little way off, says Tanya, however people are still encouraged to call the local office with any queries or concerns they have now.

Age Concern can be contacted on: 07 578 2631 or online at: www.ageconcerntauranga.org.nz