Swindon Children’s Scrapstore launches Project Reboot

Thanks to a Big Lottery Awards for All grant of £8,667, Swindon Children’s Scrapstore is able to start ‘Project Reboot’ to provide quality refurbished computers and laptops so that people living in Swindon are able to purchase a computer at an affordable price giving them access to up to date technology, writes Scrapstore project manager Olivia McCann.

We provide volunteering and training opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, people on work placements and long-term unemployed, helping them develop skills and work based experience. We will provide opportunities for volunteers participating on the project to access training as electrical service engineers or Portable Appliance Testers (PAT). We collect redundant computers and I.T equipment from businesses and local people who no longer need them or who have upgraded to a newer computer or laptop and would now like to donate their old working computers to a charity. We will collect and transport them to our warehouse processing centre whgere items suitable for repair will be refurbished and redistributed to support disadvantaged people and community organisations. Our volunteers sort through the donated I.T equipment separating the outdated computers from the ones that cannot run the latest operating systems or software. The equipment is then tested and the data is securely wiped ready to be sorted for either onward recycling or refurbishment and redistribution. The items that are deemed suitable for redistribution are refurbished, PAT tested and loaded with an operating system. These items then enter our re-use pool which is accessible to disadvantaged people who would other-wise be unable to afford such equipment. We provide a full audit trail and quantify how much I.T equipment has gone for re-use and calculate the number of tonnes diverted from landfill. Broken or unsuitable items will be recycled in line with WEEE legislation. Swindon Children’s Scrapstore significantly reduces the amount of end of life furniture and I.T equipment which is no longer of use to businesses but is still suitable for use and these items would otherwise end up in landfill. By the way, if you are looking for a WEEE recycling company, you can check out Kwiksweep as these guys offer an electrical equipment collection and I.T Computer disposal from anywhere, whether it's your home, office or workplace.  Scrapstore aims to avoid the needless waste, and in these difficult times, we need to pull together and help each other. We welcome donations of any computers, laptops and I.T equipment that are less than about 5 years old. Donated computers older or faulty are usually not suitable for refurbishing economically and require costly disposal. We recently received a donation of 120 PC’s from a local contact centre Jaywing. Now the Dell OptiPlex 745 Pentium D Internet Ready refurbished computers are available for only £30 each with a warranty. We also have Monitors for £10 each, USB Keyboards and USB Optical Mice for £5 each and all money raised from sales goes directly to the work of Swindon Children's Scrapstore. If you would like to purchase a computer call Scrapstore on 01793 513982 or email: [email protected] Alternatively contact Project Reboot Co-ordinator, Nigel at: [email protected] Swindon Children’s Scrapstore