Volunteers who provided
a technology lifeline for
Surrey families struggling
during lockdown have
been officially recognised
for their sterling work.
The team behind the ‘Level
Up Redhill Reigate Banstead’
project scooped a Volunteer
Crisis Response Award in the
annual Reigate & Banstead
Volunteer Award scheme.
Raven and Voluntary Action
Reigate and Banstead (VARB),
took on and extended the
local Level Up project to
support families unable to
afford a computer for their
children’s home schooling
during lockdowns.
The initiative involves collecting
donated unwanted laptops,
refurbishing them, then gifting them to children and
teenagers. The initial focus was
helping those struggling to get
online for home schooling.
A total of 1,100 computers have
been provided so far and over
800 are due to be distributed
during the next academic year.
Steve Ward, Raven’s Digital
Inclusion Officer, took on
the project in January 2021
after seeing a shortfall
in support provided by
government schemes.
He said:
“Our volunteers have done
fantastic work over the
past 18 months, so I am
delighted that their hard work
and dedication have been
recognised with this award,
which is very well deserved.
“Many of them volunteered
after they themselves were
furloughed or had to work
from home, which is a tribute
to their selfless commitment
to making a difference in their
communities and helping
others through this pandemic.
“As a result of the team’s hard
work, students all over the
borough have been thrilled
with their laptops – which
have opened up a range of
educational and recreational
opportunities for them during
extremely challenging times.”
Level Up’s I.T volunteers replace
old hard drives and install
software to give computers
a new lease of life, while the
project’s volunteer drivers collect
old laptops then deliver the
revamped computers to schools
and colleges across the borough.