Sellafield Ltd has donated almost 500 recycled laptops and computers to schools across west Cumbria.
The machines were no longer required by the company after an IT upgrade.
Sellafield’s Information Services Organisation (ISO), and its and supply chain partners ATOS and Allvotec, identified the surplus equipment which still in good working order.
These were then made available for schools with an identified need for IT resources.
Further donations are planned soon.
Ian Skipper, of Sellafield Ltd’s ISO team said: “An internal hardware and software upgrade meant that we have equipment that was surplus to our requirements but of a high enough specification for use in schools.
“After a quick clean down, memory replacement, and new blank hard drives were inserted, they were packed up ready for new academic homes rather than being packed up for landfill.
“This was a Sellafield Ltd, Atos, and Allvotec joint initiative and I cannot give enough credit to the team who turned the donation idea into a reality.”
The next challenge was making sure that the equipment made it into the hands of schools and children who really needed it.
Gary McKeating, Sellafield Ltd’s head of community and development, said: “One of the priorities of our social impact programme is ensuring our support is targeted towards areas of greatest need.
“We know some students have struggled to access laptops to help with their learning during the first lockdown and if they need to isolate for any period of time.
“Another feature of our social impact work is collaboration.
“We aren’t best placed to say which schools need the support the most, which is why we’ve worked with the WELL (Western Excellence in Leadership and Learning) project to identify where the equipment should go.”
The laptops have become available as a result of Sellafield Ltd’s migration to the Windows 10 platform.
This has included a roll-out of new machines to all Sellafield Ltd employees.
The process is ongoing and is expected to be complete next year. The donated equipment is now in use in schools across West Cumbria, including Dean Primary School.
Claire Kirkpatrick, chair of the local governing body at Dean Primary School, near Workington, said: “This equipment has made a massive difference to the way that lessons can be delivered.
“Previously we only had a very small number of laptops, all of which were extremely old, that had to be shared between a large number of children across the school.
“This was never ideal but especially in the current climate. However, thanks to Sellafield Ltd’s kind donation, every pupil in a whole class can now have access to a laptop.”
