28th June 2021
Budding Engineers CIC are a small community interest company based in Thurso who are trying to help put an end to digital device exclusion and laptop poverty but we are also looking for help from businesses to make this happen. Our main focus is to inspire STEAM in education through 3D Design/Computer Aided Design and Digital Technology.
We are contacting different businesses across the north to see if they or their families have any laptops/ipads/tablets that they wish to donate to our project.
Recently we have just received funding to allow us to hopefully distribute approximately 870 devices across the North of Scotland. However, we are going to need plenty of donations.
From 1st July we have a big project which is all about donating Tech4Tots & Teens. More about this project and the criteria can be found on our Facebook page. We thoroughly clean these devices and we sanitise the hard drive using a DOD approved application prior to refurbishing the device. This also ensures that any donated unit has a blank hard drive satisfying any Data Protection regulations.
The laptops that we refurbish are donated with a version of the Linux operating system, we also install several additional educational applications. This is a fun way to learn, as these are in a game format. Maths and typing are just a couple which will help with their numeracy and literacy skills. All our devices will be PAT tested prior to being sent out to the families.
Some of these applications we install are known to help those children with additional needs and some of the feedback from parents has been amazing.
Budding Engineers CIC are also actively combating global and national inequalities by inspiring young girls to pursue skills development in digital design, as well as offering an inclusive programme designed to unlock the technical potential of children/young adults with dyslexia or autism.
To contact the team to find out more or to make a donation, you’ll find them in the members directory.
