More than 30 laptops have been donated to schools in the Bruton area after the community banded together to help youngsters who need help accessing lessons during lockdown.

The drive was organised by staff at On the Brook, which offers a cafe and accommodation in normal times. The laptops have now been donated and delivered to a team of IT specialists at Brue Computing Limited to wipe data and software before being sent to Sexey’s School and Bruton Primary.

Sophie Blanpain-Forder from On The Brook said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and are delighted to be able to help the local school children at this difficult time.

“We have been collecting money via a currency coin exchange and are glad to be using the £400 raised to help shred the laptops of data before being passed on. A further £400 has been raised by Nicky Mendoza- Wilson of Rose & Lyons through donations made for kids’ face masks, and will go towards the effort.

“We are also looking at getting them PAT tested and health and safety secure before being donated. Thank you to everyone who has already given laptops – we are still taking local donations and you can get in touch by emailing info@onthebrook.co.uk.”

Sexey’s School headteacher Helen Cullen said: “Home learning can be incredibly tough on students and parents, especially when multiple siblings need to have access to devices.”

“We have yet to receive the Department for Education laptops that have been allocated to our school. Our students are being offered a robust remote learning programme which includes online daily live lessons and therefore a device to access these lessons is key.”

“We are aware that some families are struggling to find laptops, consoles or tablets to allow this to happen. We’re incredibly supportive of the fabulous work being done by the team at On The Brook to source additional laptops for our students who need them.”

“We would like to thank them and the members of the Bruton community who have made donations for their time and generosity. Details of how parents can apply to secure a donated laptop to enable their son or daughter to access online live lessons will be sent out in our end of week email.”

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