Laptops for kids campaign has smashed target
DOZENS of laptop computers have been donated to youngsters who need them for school work in response to a campaign spearheaded by a town’s mayor.
Ashbourne mayor Sean Clayton established Laptops for Learners earlier this month and in the space of five days he smashed his fundraising target and donations of old computers have poured in.
Belper Road-based Code Red Computers, which agreed to help clear the computers and make them safe, is currently working on 15 laptop computers and two tablets and a “van-load” of machines have also been dropped off at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School.
The haul of unwanted technology includes printers and cartridges, which some pupils will need for their lessons.
The campaign began after Mr Clayton spoke to staff at Ashbourne Primary School and heard the Government scheme to deliver laptops to children without access to technology for remote learning was falling disastrously short. Since the campaign started, other schools have been in touch with their requirements and it is now hoped all children that need access to computers and the internet will be ready to go in a few weeks.
Mr Clayton said: “I’m absolutely chuffed to bits with how this has gone. I thought we would probably get half a dozen, maybe 12 secondhand laptops, some of use, some not of use, perhaps some too old to do anything with.
“But it’s been a typical Ashbourne response. It’s been absolutely phenomenal,” he added. “I think the campaign has just run really well, it’s been brilliant.”
A fundraising plea to pay for the costs of providing laptops reached its £5,000 target in just five days and is now shooting towards a new goal of £7,500.
Other groups and individuals have got involved in the scheme and are currently helping to assess the need for computers in some of the town’s outlying villages.
The idea for the campaign has also caught on in other areas, with Mr Clayton being interviewed for an article on the national news website Buzzfeed, and the Mayor of Matlock getting in touch for help starting up a similar scheme.
Mr Clayton said: “Apart from launching the campaign, I haven’t really had to do a lot.
“People have taken their own initiative and just rolled it out. And now it’s going national.”