Christians Against Poverty (CAP), working alongside local churches in the Falmouth and Penryn area have launched a campaign to help children who don’t have access to a working laptop for school work.

They are raising money and asking for donations of unwanted laptops in good working order to help schools to provide equipment for children learning at home during the lockdown.

Jacqui Bennett, local CAP Debt Centre Manager, first became aware of the issue when she offered an unwanted laptop that she had been given, to St Francis School: “I discovered that the school had loaned out all of the computers they had to their children but were still eight short. This is when I began to raise awareness by asking for any unwanted laptops.

“The next idea was to ask for funds to purchase laptops for the school. Within a week the kind and amazing people of one of the churches had raised enough to purchase the laptops.”

This set Jacqui thinking that other local schools must be having the same problem, so she began contacting other schools in the area.

To date two schools have indicated that they have a shortage of devices to loan out to their children. Jacqui added: “In total, we already know we need at least 48 laptops so that every child has one.

“I have informed other churches in the area and together we are beginning to raise funds with the hope of ensuring that every child working at home during the lockdown has a device to work on.”

The headteacher of St Francis School said this: “There has been much reported in the media about the long-term negative effects of home schooling of children, especially in regards to those kids classed as disadvantaged.

“St Francis has high aspirations for all our pupils, and as such is committed to meeting the needs of all our families in the most effective way we can.

“During this school closure period, we are providing a high-quality remote learning curriculum with 3 live online sessions a day covering our whole curriculum.

“To support all of our families in accessing these lessons, we have loaned out 43 devices from what we have at the school - and yet, there is still need. We are now at the limit of the devices we have available to support children in accessing our remote learning, and any further support in additional devices would be much appreciated.

“We know that the children who are accessing the online sessions are continuing to receive excellent teaching directly from their class teacher”

Falmouth Primary Academy are also in need of around 40 laptops and said:

“We have a long waiting list for families who are using mobile devices and this is before we even look at the families who are sharing one laptop between siblings.”

CAP is also offering support to parents who’re struggling with debt. If you are struggling with debt and need help, get in contact with CAP today on 0800 328 0006 or visit capuk.org.