Campaign boosted by a donation of seven laptops from Allen Associates

The county’s longest-established independent recruitment agency, Allen Associates, has donated seven laptops to a new initiative which is spearheaded by Oxfordshire Community Foundation and run by partners including Aspire, Oxford.

Funded by Oxfordshire County Council and Our Common Good, the ‘Getting Oxfordshire Online’ initiative has been set up to help disadvantaged people to access the electronic devices they need to get online and get ahead, including school pupils, older people, homeless people, refugees and jobseekers. Training and support is also being offered.

Kate Allen, managing director of Allen Associates, said: “We were only too delighted to find a home for our older laptops, having recently invested in new IT equipment for our growing recruitment team. We already have long-standing relationships with Oxfordshire Community Foundation and Aspire Oxford and are very pleased to be able to contribute to this worthwhile campaign.”

All donated devices will be ‘triple wiped’ to stringent standards and completely refurbished, ready for distribution to those that need them most. Many charities and schools have already signed up to the initiative, with over 100 Oxfordshire school children currently on the waiting list.

Research shows that up to 40,000 people in Oxfordshire are not online, and nationally 34% of children aged 5 to 16 do not have access to their own device. Although home schooling has come to an end, students still need to use the internet to access their homework and other resources – and they are hugely disadvantaged if they are unable to do so.

With unwanted laptops, tablets and mobile phones gathering dust in thousands of homes and offices, businesses and individuals are being urged to donate them.

Find out how to donate devices