As enthusiastic laptop repurposers, we were delighted to be invited by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to the launch of their “IT Reuse for Good Charter”, in the City of London, hosted by Deloitte.  Our COO, Liz, made and early-morning train journey to take part.

This charter encourages organisations to donate their end of service devices to be wiped of data and then passed onto people who need devices but don’t have the means to buy them at the moment.

After opening comments from Sir Chris Bryant – Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecomms we learned more about why organisations like the Good Things Foundation, VodafoneThree and Deloitte are supporting this programme.

Liz also got the chance to chat to some large organisations who are keen to support the initiative in their Social Value programmes and some of the technical details behind how older devices can be adapted, even if they’re not suitable to stay as Windows devices.  What was great was how close everyone’s vision was to TechResort’s when it comes to making sure old tech ends up in the hands of people who really need it.

It also demonstrated to us how progressive our immediate local authority are, having already donated over 150 devices to us during the pandemic and are working on more at the moment so that we can ensure our community can benefit from them.  Local businesses and authorities are still welcome to donate devices directly to TechResort – our client waiting list is very long.

Our refurbishment work also provides students with an opportunity for learning work-relevant skills in our Work Experience (WEX) programme and for students to know they’re really helping their community whilst they learn.  Everyone wins!

Thank you to DSIT for the invitation and especially to the Deloitte staff who hosted and made us feel so welcome.