Asda donates laptops to Damhead PS

The supermarket recently formed a partnership with technology provider Dell to invest over £2 million so that every Asda store in the UK, including Asda Coleraine could donate at least 10 laptops to a school in need in their local community.

The store nominated Damhead Controlled Primary School as there is a proportion of families within the school who are struggling to access technology and Shannon arranged for delivery of 10 laptops, each of which comes with a tech bundle to support ongoing home learning activities.

Asda launched this initiative to support schools in its communities that are struggling with digital exclusion. According to Ofcom, around 9% of children in the UK – between 1.1 million and 1.8 million – do not have access to a laptop, desktop or tablet at home. These children are primarily from disadvantaged backgrounds and at risk of falling further behind with their education.

Asda Coleraine Community Champion, Shannon Linton, said: “I’ve a really close relationship with Damhead Controlled Primary School and I know what a massive difference this donation is going to make to the school on receiving these laptops. I’m proud that Asda can help to play a small part in helping to break down the digital barriers so the children can continue their education remotely both now and in the future.”

Jill Laverty, Head Teacher at Damhead, said: “It was such a surprise, and we can’t thank Asda enough for choosing our school to receive these laptops, this donation will go a long way in helping children gain access to the technology and data packages that will help to break down some of the digital barriers that exist. Thank you so much to Asda for this generous donation.”

Asda and Dell Technologies provided the school with brand new laptops built with best-in-class durability that makes them ideal for young learners. The education devices are used by schools, colleges and universities across the UK and its products are designed to support learning, whether that is in the classroom or in a virtual environment.

The tech bundle provided by the Asda Foundation is an extension of their support of schools with this important education initiative. During the Autumn 2020 term, the Asda Foundation awarded more than half a million pounds to hundreds of schools to ensure children could get back into the classroom. This included providing grants for everything from stationery to school uniform banks, breakfast clubs and more, to ensure no child felt excluded due to financial limitations. With the move to home learning set to continue this support will go some way to meet the increasing need for access to devices and data.