Since last March, we've provided 1689 items to over 100 UK organisations. These items include laptops, PCs, mobile phones and other devices which have been in high demand since the start of Covid-19. With the increase in demand for equipment came the issue for a lot of organisations that the cost of new equipment was restrictive for them. After collecting feedback from our beneficiaries, cost and availability were the most frequently reported barriers that organisations were facing before finding Computer Aid's service:
Without it, we would genuinely have been stumped. We couldn't have afforded to buy them at market cost as our budgets and fundraising have been decimated by the pandemic.
A College in Reading
The pandemic has thrown our daily lives into disarray, causing new and complex issues for our beneficiaries. Some everyday tasks have become an enormous challenge and made the lives of vulnerable people increasingly isolated. With many organisations finding their usual work disrupted, technology has become one of the main ways to stay connected with each other and continue important work:
Over the pandemic, the need for online training has escalated and we have needed digital devices to support them to gain access to services for both training and communication. A lot of clients are isolated and some having not been able to leave their homes since the pandemic started due to shielding. This access has changed their lives!
A Charity in Aberdeen
We needed the computers so women in our refuge accommodation could access their Universal Credit journals, communicate with others, apply for jobs and do online courses. As you can imagine fleeing domestic abuse is a traumatic experience. Some women have not had access to bank accounts or had to apply for benefits. The computers have supported them to do these important things.
A Women's Refuge in Edinburgh
We have been able to continue working with young people by providing 3 regular weekly one hour sessions where the young people can chat, work on specific tasks and share what they have been working on. We also recorded a virtual Christmas Concert where people recorded and submitted their individual parts. As we enter Lockdown 3 we are piloting how we can play music together and tackle the problems of poor rural broadband provision and time delays. The MacBooks are an important link in the chain acting as a gateway to take the sound of musical instruments from the home out onto the world wide web so we can work collaboratively.
A Charity in Yorkshire
We're happy to have been in a position to help provide access to technology for these organisations, but there is still an ever-increasing demand for technology. With the launch of our latest campaign, we're now offering free data-wiping and collection for individual laptops, as well as fundraising to cover admin and delivery costs for organisations who don't have the funds to cover this themselves. The feedback we've received so far has been positive, but we want to do even more. If you can help through donating a laptop or through a financial contribution, we would be so grateful: