A PADIHAM IT company is appealing to local businesses for donations of unwanted laptops in order to support children's education during the coronavirus pandemic.

Rapid IT’s ‘Tech 4 All Kids’ campaign takes donated devices, securely wipes and refurbishes them and then offers them to local schools with pupils who are struggling to work from home due to a lack of IT equipment.

In order to do this they need a supply of laptops and believe that businesses across the county could be an excellent source.

Rapid IT managing director Jack Bannister said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from the local community with regards to the ‘Tech 4 All Kids’ campaign.

“We know from speaking to schools we have already donated to that the devices are making a real difference to children who would otherwise have to share with siblings or work from a mobile phone.

“While we’ve had hundreds of generous donations so far, we now want to make a specific appeal to businesses, as their equipment generally has a lot of life left in it when retired and comes in multiples.

“Such devices could make a huge difference to the education of children in our communities who don’t have access to adequate technology.”

One business which has already made a donation to the campaign is Burnley construction firm, BAAS who arrived at Rapid IT with 20 computers to donate.

BAAS managing director Haydn Williams said: “As soon as we heard about the campaign, we wanted to get involved.

"The whole pandemic has been so hard on everyone and we knew schools in particular were struggling.

“We were investing in new computers anyway, so it was an obvious choice for us to partner with a local business that was supporting local children.

“I’d say to any company that is upgrading their devices to get on board with the campaign.

“Once computers have been replaced, the old ones often just sit in cupboards gathering dust, so why not hand them over to Rapid for refurbishment?

“Let’s all do our bit to give local children the best learning opportunities possible at this difficult time.”

To find out how to donate, go to: www.rapidit.co.uk/donate.

The company says that arrangements can be made for the collection of sizeable donations.