Battersea Power Station and Wandsworth Council Celebrate Reaching 100 Laptop Donations For Power To Connect Campaign

Exciting milestone reached of 100 laptops and tablets having been donated in past month.
50 laptops and tablets already delivered to local schools for distribution to families in need.
Battersea Power Station and Wandsworth Council launched the ‘Power to Connect’ campaign in April to raise awareness of the issues faced around digital poverty.

Michelle and her family receiving a laptop through the Power to Connect Campaign

Battersea Power Station and Wandsworth Council are pleased to announce that over 100laptops and tablets have been donated so far to the ‘Power to Connect’ campaign since it launched on 17 April 2020. The donations made will be delivered to local families across the borough of Wandsworthvia schools providing the necessary technology needed to stay connected whilst staying and learning at home.

Battersea Power Station and Wandsworth Council partnered to launch the ‘Power to Connect’campaign in April, to support local families who are struggling to stay digitally connected during the COVID-19 crisis. The campaign’s key aim is to help combat digital poverty and support the local community of Wandsworth to keep digitally connected during to the outbreak. To date, 60deviceshave been delivered to local families as part of the campaign.

As part of the ‘Power to Connect’ campaign, the Battersea Power Station Foundation donated £10,000 to Wandsworth Council, to provide£10 data vouchers to local families. Following the launch of the campaign, to date, schools across Wandsworth have referred 350 families to receive the data vouchers.

Sarah Banham, Head of Community and Sustainability at Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC), said: “Following its launch in April, the level of response we’ve seen for the Power to Connect campaign in such a short space of time has been incredible and demonstrates the serious need for this initiativeinWandsworth. already collected100 laptops, we believe we are on a strong path to helping to ensure that no family struggles with digital inequality during the COVID-19 crisis.

“With the strong support received from dedicated volunteers, local Councillors and the school community network, we are keen to continuing  many old, working and unused laptops as possible that can be refurbished and redistributed to ensure this campaign is sustainable in the long-run, whilst also strengthening the community spirit that has prevailed during these challenging times.”

Michelle living in Batterseawho received a laptop donation for the family, said: “Without access to a laptop and having to home-school has been incredibly challenging.  As a family, we found it difficult to continue with the school’s curriculum whilst being at home without the necessary technology required to do so. With the laptop received from the Power to Connect campaign, we are now in a much stronger position to continue the pace of learning at a much closer rate to that of pre-COVID-19 and are therefore very grateful to Battersea Power Station and the Council for getting this great initiative up and running.”

CouncillorWill Sweet, Wandsworth Council Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services, said: “I’m delighted that we are getting more Wandsworth school pupils online through our scheme to connect families with classroom support during COVID-19. I’m also pleased to say that the Council is providing its own laptops to expand the scheme even further.“The council has been working hard with local schools to identify students who need help getting online while schools are closed and then distribute donated laptops and tablets as quickly as possible in partnership with Battersea Power Station and the Dons local action group charity.

“We are determined to do as much as possible to ensure no child is left behind in their education at this time, which is why the council is giving dozens of its own used laptops to the scheme with more to come, in addition to 800 laptops from the government for our students in Year 10 and those with a social worker. To ensure that families get all-round digital access to education resources, we are also giving out hundreds of data top-up vouchers, SIM cards and wi-fi dongles to families who need it.”

“We welcome more businesses getting in touch with Power to Connect if they have unwanted laptops or can volunteer technical expertise, so that we can support parents and help even more local schoolchildren keep up during this difficult time.”

To support the ‘Power to Connect’ campaign through computer or tablet donations, by volunteering IT expertise or your time to collect and drop off the refurbished Chromebooks, or by making a donation to the data top-up voucher fund, further information on how to get involved can be found at https://www.powertoconnect.co.uk/.

Find help for local residents and businesses from Wandsworth Council at https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/coronavirus.

For further information on Battersea Power Station, please visit https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/and follow @BatterseaPwrStn to keep up to date with the latest news and events