Supermarket donates laptops to schools

Supermarket giant Asda is to provide nearly 500 laptops to schools in the North East to help children who don’t have the technology to take part in online lessons.

The firm is working with Dell Technologies to provide 470 laptops in the region – after pledging that reach of its can donate at least 10 laptops to a school in their local community.

That will amount to 7,000 laptops to schools nationally.

The supermarket has formed a partnership with technology provider Dell and is investing £2m in the scheme – wit each machine coming with a tech bundle and a data allowance of 20gb from Asda’s network partner Vodafone.

The data allowance has been funded by a separate £500,000 contribution from the retailer’s charity arm, The Asda Foundation.

Roger Burnley, CEO and president of Asda, said: “It’s clear that digital exclusion is an issue affecting many thousands of children who attend schools in communities that we serve.

"These children have been disproportionately affected by the lockdown and are at risk of falling further behind their peers. We want to do all we can to help break down the digital barriers so they can continue their education remotely.”

Dayne Turbitt, senior vice president of Dell Technologies in the UK, said: “As a global technology company committed to driving human progress, we want to help support families with access to devices, connectivity and the tools needed to fully participate in remote learning.”