A big thank you to the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority for very kindly donating 7 laptops to Unity in Diversity’s Improved Access to Technology Project.
We support the work of various groups working with refugees and asylum seekers and our primary partner in Swansea is Unity in Diversity, a group which is entirely volunteer-led and runs twice-weekly sessions providing food, support and learning opportunities to asylum seekers and refugees.
One of Unity in Diversity’s aims is to provide an IT facility. Accessing computers and the Internet is vital for refugees and asylum seekers and the laptops that have been donated by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority have been thankfully received.
Wayne Yare, the Unity in Diversity Coordinator (a volunteer role) states: “Unity in Diversity is very happy indeed to have an IT provision now at our drop-in thanks to the kind donations of equipment from Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees, and Brecon Beacons National Park. The people we support are very happy to be able to access news and content in their own languages as well as being able to contact loved ones. It is also encouraging to see people new to their refugee status making CVs and accessing job-search sites with support. Alongside this, those studying ICT on our connected learning programs with the Department of Adult Continuing Education at Swansea university are able to practice/complete tasks from their courses. This is of enormous help to our project and the people we support. Many thanks for the kind support.”
The National Park Authority stated that they were delighted to be able to help such a worthy cause by making use of some of their old equipment in this way. Paul Funnell, IT Manager states: “Most organisations replace their IT equipment on a 3 year cycle but due to budget constraints the National Park Authority has extended this to 4 or even 5 years in some cases. Ordinarily at the end of this period if there is any retained value in the old equipment it is auctioned off to provide a small surplus income. However, on this occasion the Authority was happy to agree to a benefit-in-kind charitable donation of 7 laptops which were given fresh installs of Windows 10 and some open source (free) software; this gave them a new lease of life and ensured they were free of any confidential or personal data before they were handed over.”
We have been very grateful for the support shown by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority since we started in September 2015 – the longer term storage that has been donated has been invaluable for storing donated items and the ‘Away Day’ that was hosted at Craig y Nos was a wonderful day enjoyed by 45 asylum seekers and refugees from Swansea.
We would not be able to fulfil our aims without the vital support of so many. A big thank you to the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority for their fantastic support!
Further information on the aims of Unity in Diversity’s project can be seen here. Please get in touch if you have an unwanted laptop or a tablet that they would like to donate.