‘Every Child Connected’: Laptop appeal passes £50,000

‘HAPPY TO HELP’: From left, Steph Greaken, of Allenby Commercial; Paul Furnival, head of IT services at Spencer Group; Gavin Barley, of Hull Esteem Consortium

Businesses have stepped forward with donations to try to ensure every Hull pupil has access to a laptop.

Allenby Commercial, Hull Esteem Consortium, and Spencer Group are the latest organisations to have donated laptops or funding following a plea from Hull City Council for local businesses to help bridge the digital divide.

The value of donations has now passed £50,000, as the city council renewed its appeal for help.

The scheme, which benefits eight to 16-year-olds, follows the council’s formation of an Every Child Connected working group at the start of the year, with the ambition that every child attending a Hull school has access to a laptop and is not disadvantaged by a lack of technology or equipment.

The group, comprising academy trusts and council representatives, established that 14 per cent of pupils, 3,681 children, were without access to a device at home at the start of the year.

Since then the council has allocated £250,000 from its Outbreak Management Fund, which bought 1,500 laptops and 150 mobile mifi devices, while local food company Cranswick donated 1,156 laptops.

Now several local businesses and organisations have donated hundreds more devices, and cash to buy more.

As well as those named above, these include Hull Children’s University, Arco, SPACE, Siemens Gamesa, Eight Fifty Group, Chaucer Foods, Dunstan Ship Repairs, Connexin, Garness Jones, Croda, McCain, and Fenner Dunlop.

Councillor Shane McMurray, portfolio holder for children’s services, said: “It is fantastic that local people and businesses are coming together to support the future generation. I am, and I know the schools are, extremely grateful to these local companies for their donations.

“This scheme is not just to support our young people during Covid, it’s to support them in their education and learning over the months and years ahead. As more and more of education, social and economic life takes place online, it’s vital our young people are able to be fully involved in the progressive technological future.”

Andrew Allenby, founder and managing director of Allenby Commercial, said: “All of our property developments in Hull and across the wider region are about people, and the priority is to create jobs by providing high-quality buildings which will help local businesses expand and attract new investment into the city.

“Our donation is an extension of that. Children and young people growing up in Hull deserve the opportunities which come from a good education but many of them need more support. Every Child Connected is a fantastic project which is particularly important at a time when we have seen so much disruption in education. We are proud to support it.”

Charlie Spencer OBE, founder and executive chairman of engineering business Spencer Group, said: “As a company founded and based in Hull and committed to employing young people from the city, we’re delighted to support this campaign.

“It’s so important that every child in the city has access to devices they can use at home to support their in-school education, especially when it is now critical that young people have the digital skills to thrive in today’s technology-driven world of work.

“It’s fantastic that the local business community is working with Hull City Council to support the learning and development of so many schoolchildren in this very practical and effective way.”

The laptops are owned by the schools and loaned to pupils.

Any business wanting to help can email CovidEd@hullcc.gov.uk.