About me - Alan Pollard
Introduction
I am a friendly, approachable, patient and highly experienced IT professional who has held very senior positions in both the public and private sectors. My profession is also my hobby and I like nothing better than tinkering with computers and finding out what they can do. As a Personal IT Tutor I want to share my enthusiasm with newcomers.
The area I cover
I live in Odstock just outside Salisbury in Wiltshire and cover an area south of the Salisbury Plain and into East Dorset and West Hampshire. Towns and cities such as Winchester, Romsey, Southampton, Wilton and Shaftesbury are within easy reach and I can travel further by arrangement. Telephone help can be provided and, once you are up and running, written (email) support or remote online help (where I connect to you computer) are always available options.
Availability
As I am now retired from full time employment I am usually readily available and can do evenings and weekends to suit.
What I teach
Practically anything you need to know to get started in computers, IT, the Internet, the Web and so on. As you get more confident, I can help you spread your wings and experiment. Even if you don't actually have a computer but just want to learn more about them before taking the plunge or want some advice on what to buy I'm happy to help as best I can. In summary, you ask; I'll be honest and say if I can't do it.
About me
After training as a teacher and then spending 32 years in the Army (retiring in 1998 as a very senior officer with responsibility for Army IT), I spent another 10 years as an IT consultant in the private and public sector working at Board and Senior Government Department level. I am a Chartered IT Professional (CITP) and Fellow of the British Computer Society and served as its President for 2008-2009. My main Presidential theme for the year was based on what the Society members can contribute to the communities in which they live, work and play. From 2008-2012 I was a member of the Trustee Board of AbilityNet (a charity that provides IT help for people with disabilities) and am a keen supporter of iT4C (IT for Communities) which is a volunteering organisation which operates in conjunction with AbilityNet. I am a Freeman Emeritus of the Information Technologists' Livery Company in the City of London. I have been married for 53 years. We have a son and daughter - both with very successful careers.