We were grateful, therefore, for the recent charitable donation from our valued Nascence partner Santander consisting of a number of iPads which will be distributed to various causes, the devices were sourced from Santander customer iOutlet.
A number of these devices have been earmarked for donation to Bristol Bears Community Foundation’s Intergenerational Hub. The Intergenerational Hub aims to better connect people in disadvantaged areas and groups throughout Bristol such as Southmead, which has an abnormally high proportion of families living with disability, special educational needs and life-limiting conditions. The programme provides physical activity and social connection sessions with the aim of improving physical and mental health via increased activity in the community. The laptops donated to this programme will go a long way to helping people of all ages to connect with each other and achieve a better quality of life.
Devices will also be distributed to one of our partner schools, Evergreen Academy, where a number of students have been identified as lacking access to digital devices. This donation will help to ensure that the learning capabilities of these students is maximised.
Peter Abel, Director at Santander, said: “We have worked with and supported Bristol Sport Foundation over a number of years through the Reading Stars and Sums and Scrums programme as well as fundraising and support of the Break the Cycle event. Through the current challenging times, we have been really impressed with how BSF have pivoted their community support in a number of areas, and it is great that one of our customers, iOutlet Limited, have donated some iPads to support the remote engagement requirements of the BSF programmes and the reading stars volunteering. We continue to look forward to continuing our support of the great work of BSF.”
Director of iOutlet, Matt Green, offered his thoughts: “Our business is involved in the provision of refurbished mobile phones, tablets and laptops, and really pleased that we have been able to provide some iPads to support the great work that is being undertaken by BSF within the community”
Kris Tavender, Spectrum Programme Manager at Bristol Bears Community Foundation, said: “Throughout the pandemic, Bristol Bears Community Foundation have tried to bridge the gaps to support older isolated people across Bristol. We have worked closely across the city with our participants to ensure they have in-hand resources to enable them to be both active and independent. “The donation of these iPads from Santander is an absolute game-changer for this work. This will allow us to create tailored pre-recorded video-based physical activity and bring it directly into people’s hands and homes, regardless of knowledge barriers or (internet) access. A lending library of physical activity and reminiscence resources will soon be available thanks to this huge gesture of community collaboration and compassion.”
Tom Monks, Head of Programmes at Bristol Sport Foundation, said: “We are extremely grateful to Santander for providing us with ten iPads, which we are donating to Evergreen Academy in Easton. A long-standing partner school of Bristol Sport Foundation, they have identified ten families who currently do not have access to a digital device. COVID-19 has shone a light on the digital divide and we are delighted, thanks to Santander’s support and generosity, to be able to support the school and these families.”
About the Foundation’s Digital Inclusion Project: As part of our wider ‘Digital Transformation Project’ we are aware that there are families within our communities who do not have access to a device that supports our content. To address this, our digital inclusion offering works with the support of our corporate partners who donate devices that we prepare for community use, pre-loaded with the BSF app and web app. Using our extensive community network, we identify families in the most urgent need and donate the devices for use. We cannot solve this issue overnight, but each donated device makes a real difference and is very much appreciated. Please contact Paul Glanville to find out how your organisation can make a donation to this important appeal and how we match every donation with clearly identified urgent need throughout Greater Bristol
