Nimble Thimble owner Maria Flinn said she didn't know the first thing about computers, but was able figure out what buttons to push with the patient guidance of David Yeates.

"Before all this covid came in I always had students here in the shop, so it's totally different seeing them on the machine," Mrs Flinn said.

"I love teaching the ladies, they're all lovely."

Mrs Flinn still does all her bookkeeping the old fashioned way with pen and paper, so she had to learn how to navigate the arcane button layout from scratch.

Mr Yeates lent her his iPad, and with his help she triumphantly held her first ever online sewing class on Monday.

"It's very, very interesting actually. I was fascinated," Mrs Flinn said.

"I'm not good at it, but I'm learning."

Mr Yeates came up with the idea of online knitting classes in a bid to reconnect elderly residents to one another and keep them active in self-isolation.

"It's not just about sewing skills, it's also that social contact because a lot of them are seniors and some of them have health issues which really holds them up from communicating," Mr Yeates said.

"It's keeping that social activity going, but also learning new skills as well."

Mr Yeates, who works at BEC Business Advice, is also helping Mrs Flinn apply for a government grant to help the shop buy equipment to help her run the online classes and take on more disciples.