Bridging the digital divide, 2000+ devices regifted
Donate IT recently celebrated its 2,000th tech donation, marking 1,000s of lives impacted and opportunities created for individuals and organisations in digital poverty across the South West.
Simon Barfoot, founder of Donate IT said:
“Our 2,000th donation is more than just a number for us, it represents thousands of lives impacted, opportunities created, and barriers broken.”
We’ve worked in partnership with Donate IT for many years, and formed links following the launch of our Fixy project in 2022.
Together with the Fixy project, the teams encourage people to declutter their drawer of doom, adding confidence that data would be securely wiped by Donate IT as a trusted partner.
Donate IT provides a practical and safe route to pass on unwanted smart tech to help others in digital poverty.
The recent celebration marked Donate IT’s 2,000th donation a remarkable milestone. Partners and supporters gathered to recognise the program’s achievements in collaboration, sustainability, and social impact. Short presentations from some of the organisations working with Donate IT showcased the breadth of the organisation’s impact. These included:
- Digi Local: coding clubs and tech donation collection.
- The Royal Mint: sustainable e-waste solutions; funds from precious metals support Donate IT.
- Shaftsbury Refuge Group: tech support for refugees.
- Spark Somerset: digital inclusion clubs, device referral schemes, and outreach.
- Fixy: the project has lots of partners and funders, promoting repair and reuse, as well as collecting smart tech to pass on Donate IT.
- Share and Repair Bath: tech amnesty events and a library of things.
- Blackmore Vale Rotary: supporting a smart tech collection point
- Able2Achieve: learner involvement in device collection and processing.
- Blackmore UK: sponsorship and volunteer support.
Speeches from local leaders, including Sarah Dyke (MP and patron) and Ted Alan (Vice Lord Lieutenant), emphasised the importance of digital inclusion for social mobility and community resilience.
Your unwanted smart tech can be donated, along with cables and chargers if possible. It will be securely data-wiped, refurbished and then gifted back out into our communities to those who need it most.
Visit donateit.co.uk for a full list of smart tech items which are accepted.
Any donated items not fit for reuse will be 100% recycled – income from recycling these helps fund preparing more devices for reuse.