The BBC’s Make A Difference: Give A Laptop campaign raises more than £700,000 to give kids home schooling tech

• Over 17,500 device donated
• 30,000 devices pledged by businesses

All 39 of the BBC’s local radio stations launched the campaign earlier this month aiming to get devices to children to help with home schooling. Local BBC radio launched a dedicated Give A Laptop page on it’s Make A Difference website listing details of specialist charities across the country that will safely wipe donated devices before distributing them to local schools.

Throughout the month, radio stations have been directing listeners to the website to connect with their local charities and as a result of the campaign’s success, businesses, trusts and foundations from all over England have been getting in touch to pledge devices, money and even data to those who need it most.

So far 17,645 have been donated with a further 30,000 pledged by businesses. And in addition £700,000 has been pledged.

Now the campaign is widening its appeal to help with the provision of much needed data.

In addition to needing devices, many households are struggling with the high cost of data to access online learning resources. Thanks to the generosity of local BBC radio listeners, the money raised by the Give A Laptop campaign is being channelled through to the specialist local charities to purchase data for those in need.

Chris Burns, Head of Local Radio, says: “It’s great to see our listeners responding to our call to action. Data poverty is just as prominent as device poverty and we are committed to doing everything we can do to help support the great work of our schools during the pandemic, and they have told us that at data is needed just as much as the devices, with one in five households struggling to afford telecoms services*.

“We’ve received an incredible £700,535 in financial donations since the launch of the campaign, which will help so many schools and children. There is still more to be done but at this challenging time, our listeners are once again showing that community spirit is alive and well.”

To donate a device you can visit Give A Laptop or listen to your local BBC Radio station via your radio, smart device or using the BBC Sounds app.

Notes to Editors

Charities involved in the BBC Make a Difference: Give a Laptop campaign recorded statistics which were correct as of the 27/01. All charities involved can be found on the BBC Make a Difference website.

*Ofcom figures on data poverty: nearly one in five households (19 percent) - around 4.7 million homes – struggle to afford their telecoms services. Six percent have difficulties paying for their fixed home broadband, while 5 percent struggle with their mobile bill.

HD3

• Give A Laptop