By Luke Williamson
Loughborough charity Equality Action is calling for people to donate their old electronic devices to children who need them to complete their schoolwork at home during lockdown.
The charity, established in 1969, has started the ‘Tech for Schools’ scheme, to help more children get the technology they need to learn from home during this lockdown period.
Harvinder Poonian, the Beyond Lockdown Project Officer, said: “We decided to do this because we have spoken to parents and schools and found that they need help.
“We give the devices to the schools who wipe any data from them and then give them out to the children that need them.
“We are urging more schools in the area to get involved because we have families from other schools that aren’t involved asking for our help,” she said.
So far, Equality Action has donated 56 devices to six schools in Loughborough and the surrounding area, but wants more people to get involved to help their pupils with their home-schooling.
Schools in England closed on Tuesday, January, 5, after England went into lockdown.
As of January 12, the Department for Education has provided more than 1.3 million laptops to children who need them, but more are needed to support every child that needs one.
Miss Poonian said: “The Government has provided some, but they are not good enough, so we have had to step up.
“We all have a laptop we do not need any more lying around somewhere.
“I found one in the back of my cupboard from three years ago and so did a few others here, so we decided to open the scheme,” she said.
The charity has made an Amazon Wishlist for people to see what devices they could donate, but they can donate what they can.
People can donate by filling out the form available on its website https://www.equalityaction.org.uk/tech-for-local-schools?fbclid=IwAR2De4huW5LBdjKrolX915xtV8pCnQiq3hvYMjnPRIxUgR6OeP_GMYrmvsk
