Covid-19: Birmingham laptops appeal as pupils face lockdown

Thousands of children are suffering from "digital poverty" in Birmingham, one group said

Charities are appealing for donations of laptops and tablets to help children unable to access online learning.

The Digital Education Partnership (DEP), based in Birmingham, said 5,000 children in the city were suffering from "digital poverty".

It is among groups appealing for laptops which can be repurposed after schools closed to most pupils.

The government said it had given out 560,000 devices nationally to support remote education.

It plans to give out more than a million extra devices to schools, colleges and councils.

But one Stafford school said it had ordered 70 laptops from the government, and so far only received nine.

The BBC's Make a Difference team is once again calling on people across the country to donate unwanted laptops and tablets to charities, including Birmingham Education Partnership, part of the DEP.

John Garrett, from the Birmingham Education Partnership, said it had seen a "huge number" of children in need of help accessing remote learning in March.

It then began appealing for old devices which it could strip and repurpose to be used by children, and be fitted with the proper connectivity to enable youngsters to get online.

So far, he said, it had given out 350 devices.

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"Supply of devices continues to be the main challenge," he said.

"A lot of businesses weren't in the position to donate old kit [during the first lockdown] because they were having to get their own workers to work at home.

"We have still got outstanding need from the first phase."

Julie Mahmoudi has seen her bills go up because of the technical demands of home schooling

Julie Mahmoudi, from Talke in Staffordshire, and her daughter Rhianna have been shielding because of health issues and doing schoolwork at home, along with her son Rhys.

She said their old laptops were "so slow". "Rhys's was taking about half an hour to load everything on, and even then there were bits missing," she said.

She said to keep up with their schooling, she had paid for faster broadband, extra data for their mobile phones and a new PC, pushing up their bills, but Rhys still had to use a slower laptop.

"It's overwhelming," she said. "I have my highs, I have my lows, and at the minute we're having more lows."

Angela Carey is also working to collect devices through the Northfield Food Service

Angela Carey set up the Northfield Food Service during the first lockdown, and the group is now donating between 300 and 500 meals a week.

She is now trying to collect laptops, and Longbridge business Get It Fixed has offered to make sure they are up-to-date for children to use.

"I know there is a need in this area. I have seen a lot of friends who are working, who are normally quite well off, who have not got devices for all the children for whatever reason," she said.

"People are also working from home themselves, things break and you might not have the fastest broadband speed."

Donation points for devices have been set up at Northfield Baptist Church and The Station pub in Kings Heath.

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