Ashfield school receives surprise laptop donation from supermarket giant Asda

The supermarket giant has made the donation to Dalestorth Primary as part of an initiative to provide more than 7,000 laptops to schools in communities struggling with digital exclusion.

It comes after Asda joined forces with technology provider Dell to invest more than £2million into the scheme to make sure its stores could donate at least 10 laptops to a school in need in their local community.

The Priestsic Road store nominated nearby school Dalestorth because it has a number of families struggling to access technology.

Asda community champion, Hayley Carrington, delivered the laptops to the school and said: “I’ve a really close relationship with Dalestorth Primary School and I know what a massive difference this donation is going to make to both the school and to the families who will receive these laptops.

"I’m pleased Asda can help to play a small part in helping to break down the digital barriers so they can children can continue their education remotely both now and in the future.”

Joseph Lamb, teacher at Dalestorth, said the donation had come as a ‘surprise’ to him and his colleagues.

“It was such a surprise and we can’t thank Asda and Dell 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 we face,” he said.

Each laptop comes with a tech bundle that includes a headset and a mobile internet dongle with a data allowance of 20gb from Asda’s network partner, Vodafone.

The dongle and data allowance has been funded by a separate £500,000 contribution from the retailer’s charity arm, The Asda Foundation.

Laptops will also include a one-year warranty and technical support.

Each school will manage the distribution to priority pupils, and Asda’s in-house IT support team will also provide support to any school that needs help to set up the equipment.