united kingdom
Supporting communities in the UK
In the UK we have a dual mission. Firstly we use our IT refurbishment operations as a launchpad for skills development and increasing employability as well as improving mental health through community building. Secondly, we provide equipment to those who need it most.
We refurbish IT equipment, install a range of educational software and provide it to those who need it most.
OUR WORK
We have supported dozens of UK schools and organisations with IT equipment to help their students. Here we have highlighted a few of the responses we have had from some of the recipients of the computers that have been generously donated by individuals and companies over the last year. They leave us in no doubt just how vital these donations are.
WHO WE've helped
One of our favourite examples of how donated IT equipment can make a difference in the UK comes from the QED Foundation where the donated laptops are supporting disadvantaged ethnic minority men and women across Bradford District to deliver English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), health and well-being, IT, employability, literacy, numeracy, citizenship, orientation and integration provision. Most QED learners are digitally excluded as they have minimal or no access to an IT device of any type at home and no access to the internet. Lockdown polarised the learners further as services moved increasingly online and led to isolation and loneliness of many Bradford ethnic minority communities. The older generation, already feeling isolated and distant from family and friends, are particularly in need of the connectivity Zoom, Facetime, WhatsApp and other platforms bring.
Laptops donated through The Turing Trust are being used throughout teaching sessions to support learning and develop essential IT skills. Each learner can now have their own device with software and educational apps so they can progress at their own pace. Initially, the focus has been on supporting learners to navigate their way around the devices, develop keyboard familiarity, set up an email address, open-up and use Apps to develop English language skills. Tutors are using the laptops for programme delivery. The social impact of mastering even basic digital skills has provided a newfound sense of worth and wellbeing. Learners report feeling more confident, engaged and included. There is an excitement about accessing information for the first time independently and attendance is more consistent.
All of this builds on how we have previously supported local UK-based organisations with ICT equipment. For example, we were delighted to support Code Your Future with a donation of laptops. Code Your Future is a fantastic organisation “supporting refugees with the dream of becoming developers.” For more examples of organisations we’ve supported please see our UK News page here.
Training at Our Workshop
Every PC we put into a school is wiped, repaired and loaded with offline educational resources in the UK. This work is done by our fantastic team of dedicated volunteers and trainees in Edinburgh.
We have been working with volunteers and trainees for over a decade and have dozens of people from our local community complete our courses in IT maintenance and repair through over 10,000 hours of training activities each year. We have an ongoing relationship with the Department for Work and Pensions who recommend us to interested candidates, enabling us to support our local community through training and the provision of employable skills. Through this experience, we’ve built our understanding of what our volunteers and trainees need and have continuously improved our training to reflect this and provide as much local benefit as possible.
Our volunteering and training programme has been designed to make sure that everyone is welcome. On average we have over 100 individual volunteers each year with a vast range of skill sets. These volunteers include a wide representation from people working at renowned companies in Edinburgh’s thriving tech industry as well as retired people or students looking for work experience. We treat each trainee as an individual, and we tailor our approach to their technical ability and confidence level. We deliver as much training as is needed to get our volunteers up to a level where they can work on donated IT equipment. We encourage trainees to work together to solve problems, learning from each other helping to build our local tech community. Over the years we’ve been delighted to see dozens of our trainees build their professional IT experience and go on to high-quality jobs.
Success Stories
Andrew, one of our trainees, secured a job as a Systems Test Engineer at a local networking company after completing our training courses.
“The opportunity at The Turing Trust to get plenty of hands-on experience as well as working with such a great range of varied ICT equipment meant that I was exposed to a vast amount of project work where our environment helped to facilitate learning by doing."
He also appreciated the opportunity to excel as our varied projects enabled him to rapidly take on new responsibilities.
Our other work
Discover how your support is helping us to bridge the digital divide through the power of accessible education.
Malawi
Our current focus is in Malawi where we have been working since 2015 with our partners Computers for Enhanced Education (CEE).
rest of world
Since 2009 we have installed computers across the globe with several partner organisations.
