It is the latest activity in a long list of City’s covid-19 related support for the local community, starting back in March when the Club gave over large sections of the Etihad stadium for use by local health services.
The donation package, which has been developed, coordinated and funded by the club’s IT team and its charity, City in the Community (CITC), will help hundreds of kids continue learning as they return to school after the latest national lockdown this winter.
The bundles are comprised of hundreds of Dell Laptops, each with an accompanying EE data pack and will be made available for use by both primary and secondary pupils who attend the 13 schools receiving the donations.
In addition to sourcing and subsequently unpacking the lap-tops, City’s IT team are also giving up their time to assist with set- up of the laptops.
Greg Swimer, Chief Technology Officer for City Football Group said:
“We’re delighted to be able to make this donation to our local schools in East Manchester. When we looked at what IT support we could give, our team felt strongly that it should be a data inclusive package which was complete and readily useable.
Although the return to schools is imminent for many children, there is still a great need for devices and equipment and while our local kids are facing a number of barriers to learning in the current climate, we didn’t want technology to be one of them.”
City Captain, Fernandinho backed the Computers for Kids campaign, saying,
“At City, we are proud to have a long and strong connection with our Manchester community and particularly with young people across our city.
However, the pandemic has meant that we have had to find different ways to reach out to those in our neighbourhood and the Computers for Kids campaign is a very good way to do just that.
As a father of two, I can see at first hand the importance of technology in keeping our young people connected.
But I am also aware that on our doorstep, there are so many who simply don’t have access to this kind of equipment, so we are only too pleased to deliver this help to the very kids and schools that need it the most.”
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Janice Allen, Headteacher at Falinge Park High School, said:
“Access to laptops is a major challenge for our pupils, not only when they are required to study from home but also when they return to the classroom.
This donation will make a great difference to our students’ access to education, and we’d like to express our sincere thanks to Manchester City for not only the laptops and data, but also their support in setting everything up.
The club has really listened to the school’s current needs and it’s a huge boost for our school community as we look forward to welcoming our children back next week.”
This latest activity by Manchester City is part of Cityzens Giving for Recovery, a 12-month campaign launched in June 2020, bringing together staff and fans of all City Football Group Clubs to help our communities recover from the effects of the pandemic through donations, expertise, facilities, resources and voice and make a positive difference.
