Computeractive is at the forefront of a campaign to improve computer literacy as the nation gears up for National Computing Day on Friday 3 October.

The aim of the event, sponsored by Computeractive, is to open the world of computing to people of all ages and remove the barriers that limit what people can do with a computer in their working or personal life.

A series of events and free helplines are on offer to help improve peoples' knowledge of the technology that surrounds them, in a bid to give users the confidence to get the best out of their computers.

People around the UK are preparing to take advantage of the resources available on the day and beyond.Computeractive reader Harvey Steele from London said he had been inspired to look into courses that would improve his knowledge of computers. "I have a powerful PC at home, but use it mainly for playing games. With some help, I know I could learn so much more and get real value for money from my PC."

The Prime Minister's E-envoy, Andrew Pinder, who is responsible for getting more Britons online, gave his support to our initiative. "National Computing Day is the perfect opportunity for us to take a look at where we need to improve our skills to harness the technological future," said Mr Pinder.

Computeractive editor James Harding said it was increasingly difficult to avoid technology in everyday life, never mind at work. "But for some reason, as a population we are struggling to keep up skills-wise with technology, even with such fundamental things as PCs and their potential.

"Not only is there a confidence barrier to overcome, our survey suggests that interest levels need to be raised as well. That's the aim of National Computing Day - to take the fear out of computing and help people become that little bit better at using technology across the board. We want people across the UK to use technology to help them get even more out of life - both at home and at work."

Visit www.nationalcomputingday.co.uk for more details of how you can get involved.