Companies, big and small, have pledged to donate computers that are surplus to their requirements. Students at the WANdisco Data Academy at The Sheffield College are securely erasing the devices using licenses and certification donated by global data security firm Blancco.
These are being securely erased and given to the city’s disadvantaged young people, free of charge, enabling them to do the schoolwork they couldn’t do without a computer.
We are perfecting our model in Sheffield before rolling it out in South Yorkshire and beyond.
We believe that all children should have access to the equipment and technology they need to succeed in their education.
By bringing together a group of like minded organisations, each providing unique expertise at different stages of the process, we are able to provide an end-to-end solution that supports in closing the digital divide.
We invite businesses and individuals to donate used digital devices. These are securely erased to global standards and distributed according to need to children, giving them the opportunity to learn remotely.
Thousands and thousands of young people in Sheffield are falling further behind with their education because they cannot access the internet at home. We need your help to close this digital divide by donating unused devices to our Laptops for Kids campaign.
We want to ensure that every child gets safe access to the internet so they can fulfil their educational potential. In a time of national crisis, the public and private sectors in Sheffield have come together to solve this problem.
Launched by The Star and WANdisco, we are supported by leading lights from Sheffield’s business and civic community. We need your donations to close the digital divide.
To make a donation, business, organisations and individuals should contact laptopsforkids@wandisco.com and arrange collection.
We want laptops, tablets, desktops and chargers.
Donors can securely erase devices themselves. Alternatively, we can arrange for the certified secure erasure of devices.
Students at the WANdisco Data Academy at The Sheffield City College are securely erasing devices under the guidance of IT experts.
They are using licences and certification donated by data security expert Blancco in support of our campaign.
After making contact via email, donors can take devices to locations in central Sheffield including the Cutlers’ Hall, Twinkl and Learn Sheffield.
Learn Sheffield, a not-for-profit organisation owned by the schools, colleges and Sheffield City Council, is distributing certified erased devices to schools, according to need.
Natterhub is providing access to digital literacy and safety content.
Devices are being distributed to schools by Learn Sheffield.
Please share details of the Laptops for Kids campaign with your child’s school and ask them to contact Learn Sheffield for further details.
We are talking to major employers, laptop manufacturers and mobile network operators in our campaign to close the digital divide in Sheffield.
Donors include DLA Piper, the UK's largest law firm, Benchmark Consult, a leading tech recruiter, and local charities.
Please do join us and help in any way you can. To pledge your support, please email laptopsforkids@wandisco.com
Follow the campaign online at #LaptopsForKids
To make a donation, business, organisations and individuals should contact laptopsforkids@wandisco.com
Please do not hesitate to contact us directly at laptopsforkids@wandisco.com
Can your business or organisation help by providing a drop-off point for laptop donations in South Yorkshire or further afield? Please get in touch if so and we can provide further details.
A report by the education standards body, Ofsted, says many children have slipped back since the first lockdown. A lack of resources, enabling children to learn at home, has been one factor. The government has supplied laptops to schools in England but has struggled to deliver the amount originally promised to many schools this term.
The Star’s Laptops for Kids campaign - in conjunction with WANdisco and LearnSheffield - has prompted many Sheffield firms to get involved.
The move is part of a push to make remote education accessible for pupils while their schools are closed during the coronavirus pandemic
The Star has joined forces with two Sheffield companies to launch a new campaign which aims to close the ‘digital divide’ amongst disadvantaged young people.
Lord O'Neill, who was a minister in George Osborne's Treasury, urges Boris Johnson to give surplus government laptops to disadvantaged children.
There are concerns some schools in lockdown could be inundated with pupils without laptops after a change to the vulnerable pupil list.