Two East Lancs tech businesses have donated laptops to young men who have been in prison build new and rewarding lives.

Rapid IT, Padiham and Daisy Communications, Nelson have presented 10 laptops to a London charity, Switchback, that supports young men get a normal life back after being in prison.

They will allow Switchback Trainees apply for jobs, find real work training and financial support as part of the essential post-sentence rehabilitation process the charity enables.

In 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Switchback also launched their Foundation for Stability programme, providing six weeks of intensive one-to-one support beginning immediately upon release and for which the laptops will 'prove invaluable'.

Switchback partnerships manager, Will Akrigg, said: “The pandemic has hit those we support particularly hard.

“Trainees have been using mobile phones to create CVs, apply for jobs and professional accreditations, and secure universal credit. It’s made undertaking these vital steps unnecessarily difficult.

“With proper laptops, they can achieve much greater success in improving their situations, developing self-worth and reducing the chances of re-offending.”

Rapid IT, on Wyre Street, received the devices from Lomeshaye-based communications company, Daisy Communications, and refurbished each one before sending them down to Switchback’s London offices.

Matthew Riley, of Daisy Communications, added: “We know that Switchback’s Trainees have a hard time upon leaving prison and we felt a duty to give them the tools to make that journey a bit easier. We live in a digital age now where everything is online so people wanting to better themselves need access to technology.”