On Tue, 27 Jun 2017 15:55:25 +0100, john west wrote:

Essentially it would have to be very *easy* for people to *set up* and
operate, since many of the older members are not very versatile on their
PCs.

That sort of indicates that it ought to be "push" rather than "pull".
ie messages just arrive on a persons computer rather than requiring
them to actively go looking.

If you don't have a handy server to spam check, accept and forward
mail then a private google group is probably the next best option.
They can be used purely by mail to/from an existing email address or
via a web interface.

--
Cheers
Dave.