Northern Ireland’s leading waste management company, RiverRidge has donated £2,000 to the New2You Centre for the Derryware Donations project, an innovative upcycling scheme that will ensure children in socially deprived areas are able to continue with home-schooling during the current lockdown restrictions.

Derryware Donations, a joint project by local IT specialist and teacher, Eoghan Barr and the New2You Centre at Pennyburn Recycling Centre, is encouraging people and businesses to dig out devices such as laptops and tablets that they no longer use, which will be refurbished and equipped with the necessary software required for remote learning through Google Classroom.

Thanks to RiverRidge’s donation, the project will be able to acquire batteries for refurbished laptops, which will then be distributed to children in the local area. This will help to alleviate the pressures of home learning for some families, as well as addressing the shortage of devices to facilitate home schooling.

Speaking about the company’s contribution to the scheme, RiverRidge CEO Brett Ross said, “It’s great to see an initiative such as this. Not only does it highlight how equipment can be reused, reducing the negative impact upon our environment, but it also highlights how a community, when working together, can make a real difference.

“RiverRidge is delighted to be able to play a small part in this project and show how imperative it is to recycle and reuse IT equipment. This fantastic and resourceful initiative allows children to continue with their education, who would not normally have access to this equipment. We wish Eoghan and the team at the New2You centre the very best of luck.”

To date, 94 devices have been distributed to families throughout the Derry City and Strabane area through the scheme.

If you are a business or individual and would like to contribute to the project, you can bring your spare devices to the reception hatch at Strahans Road Recycling Centre in Strabane during business hours, or to the furniture donation point at the New2You centre. Find out more at www.derrywaredonations.org.