Computer Aid launches summer holiday appeal to education sector

26th June 2012

UK based charity launches summer holiday appeal to education sector for unwanted computers and monitors

Computer Aid International calls on the UK education sector to donate their used IT equipment for reuse in schools, colleges and universities across Africa and Latin America when they upgrade over the summer

UK schools, colleges and universities are being urged to donate their used computer equipment to Computer Aid International over the summer holidays when many will be upgrading to newer technologies. Donating unwanted IT equipment to the charity will mean that their equipment will be used to provide greater access to education and ICT for school children in developing countries.

Computer Aid International is UK registered charity and the largest not-for-profit provider of computers to the developing world. Since 1998 the charity has been working to reduce poverty through practical ICT solutions, largely through the provision of over 200,000 computers and laptops for use in education, agriculture and health in over the 100 countries.

Schools, colleges and universities in the UK have already made a significant contribution to Computer Aid through donations of computers, monitors and laptops. Current education sector donors include Oxford University, University College London, Westminster University, Brunel University, Royal Holloway University, Bournemouth University and many more, as well as hundreds of schools and FE colleges across the UK.

Royal Holloway University of London has been donating their IT equipment to Computer Aid since 2003. According to John Gregory, Senior Desktop Support Analyst at the university “we use Computer Aid for our IT disposal because they are reliable, their drivers turn up on time, they provide secure data wiping on all equipment and they are also a well established organisation who have been working in the field of computer refurbishment for many years; the fact that the equipment goes on to a good cause a bonus too!”

According to Anja ffrench, Director of Communications at Computer Aid, “the cycle of poverty and disadvantage cannot be broken unless poor countries have the technology and skills-base to develop their economies. In an increasingly global economy it is critical that children and students in Africa and Latin America are IT literate. By donating computers and monitors to Computer Aid, organisations can make a significant contribution to poverty reduction by helping children in developing countries learn valuable IT skills which are essential to their country’s development. If you have unwanted equipment to dispose of, please do consider donating it for reuse.

Computer Aid provides a full and secure decommissioning service, so its donors can rest assured that their equipment is securely data wiped and that they are fully complying with the WEEE legislation. Each PC, monitor and laptop donated to Computer Aid is asset tracked enabling them to provide feedback to every donor on exactly which school, university or project their unwanted PCs are benefiting.

Each PC refurbished by Computer Aid will last for a minimum of 3-4 years and provide up to 6,000 hours of ICT access. This will give up to 60 students the opportunity to train up to a vocational level of IT literacy. Below is an example of IT equipment donated to Computer Aid that is benefiting the education sector in Chile.

Reused PCs in use in Chile: Computer Aid works with a partner organisation called Chilenter in Chile to provide the poorest and often the most rural schools in Chile with access to ICT. To date, over 1,500 schools have received computers donated by UK organisations to Computer Aid. This has meant that thousands of children living in rural and poor areas in Chile are benefiting from improved education facilities and the opportunity to learn the IT literacy skills vital to their future job prospects, thanks to UK organisations.

You can find pictures of this project and many more on Computer Aid’s Flickr account

To find out more about donating to Computer Aid, contact the charity directly on 020 8361 5540, email enquiries@computeraid.org, or visit: www.computeraid.org.