DIGITAL INCLUSION x XMA
Supporting charities to scale their impact across Manchester through the provision of donated devices.
Digital devices are desperately needed to help Manchester’s diverse communities take advantage of everything that life in the city has to offer. Residents who have the skills and essential resources needed to get online are privileged with better access to entertainment, employment and education opportunities, and vital services. Vulnerable communities are often disproportionately impacted, with limited access to devices exacerbating existing barriers and inequalities.
Despite the urgent need for affordable electricals, only 1 in 40 brand new devices will ever be reused. Every month, thousands of machines that could otherwise have been repurposed end up abandoned in storage or languishing in landfill. Even when the device itself no longer works, around 75% of materials in old electricals can still be recycled!
This year, thanks to the amazing generosity of IT solutions provider XMA, the Digital Inclusion team will be able to gift over 300 high-quality laptops to charitable organisations and vulnerable people across Manchester.
By connecting charities with potentially costly digital devices at no cost, the Digital Inclusion team aims aims to alleviate the challenges charities face in meeting demand for their services and help them to scale their impact to support more people across Manchester.
Over the next few months, the devices will be used to support teachers to prepare and deliver lessons on Ukrainian culture; help cycling enthusiasts discover how to use digital maps and route planning software; and empower unpaid young adult carers to gain essential digital skills – as well as much, much more!
Scroll down to explore our interactive map and discover where XMA’s generous donation is unlocking new opportunities for people across the city.
Laptops Changing Lives
Map Of Donations
“Despite the urgent need for affordable electricals, only 1 in 40 brand new devices will ever be reused.”
Laptops that might have supported care leavers to live more independently instead release harmful chemicals into the environment. Mobile phones that could have helped a person struggling with homelessness to connect with loved ones and vital support services become part of the biggest toxic waste stream in the world, with their valuable raw materials lost forever.
These outcomes are not inevitable.
Despite falling incomes and rising operational costs, Manchester has an incredible number of people, communities and organisations working together to help people to access and engage with digital services. Businesses that use a high volume of digital devices have the potential to support efforts to combat social inequalities and reduce the digital device by recycling old electricals that have reached the end of their business lifecycle.
