Staffordshire families gifted laptops to tackle digital poverty

The Digital Poverty Alliance has officially kicked-off its Tech4Families initiative across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, which will see disadvantaged families here being donated laptops to help reconnect them to the digital world.

The launch was celebrated at an in-person event on Wednesday 22nd June, hosted at the Currys store in Festival Heights Retail Park, Hanley.

During the celebration, Mikael Williams, from Staffordshire was gifted his very first laptop, accompanied by his mum Jackie McDonald.

Staffordshire was selected as just one of five areas across the country where Tech4Families will be physically rolled out, as it was found to be one of the areas most affected by digital poverty in the UK.

Other locations include Ayrshire in Scotland, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend in Wales, and the Norfolk Coast.

The scheme comes as recent research found that one in five children who had been home schooling in 2021 did not have access to an appropriate device to do so.

Tech4Families, the initiative being rolled out by the Digital Poverty Alliance and Currys, seeks to solve this issue by helping families who need a laptop to get one.

Catrin Hale, Group Social Impact manager for Currys, commented: "Technology makes up the backbone of business, society and entertainment in the modern day, and every single person deserves equal opportunities to access the internet, work via digital means, or learn on a laptop, regardless of their socio-economic status, age, or background.

Elizabeth Anderson, COO for the Digital Poverty Alliance added: "Digital poverty is a major issue across the county, with nearly 3 million people still ‘offline’ and without the right means to digital access. And, without technology, disadvantaged families and individuals are neglected of the same opportunity to build a career, to complete school work, or even to interact with their friends and family.

"We are therefore excited to be rolling out Tech4Families, which seeks to help people get online now. It was great to see such a positive turnout, and hopefully this will bring more attention to the problem of digital poverty, and alert families afflicted by it in the area to reach out to us."

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