Keith Stanford, from Kildare town did his bit for charity recently when we won a laptop for Aoibheann’s Pink Tie charity. Keith entered a competition run by Rehab Recycle, where people were invited to nominate their chosen charity to win a laptop. Keith was impressed by the good work the charity has been doing. Aoibheann’s Pink Tie was set up by Jimmy Norman in 2010 to help support children and their families during their child’s cancer battle to beat cancer.
The competition was run by Promise It to Rehab Recycle, which offers laptops and desktops to schools, charities and community groups at very low entry price points. Nuala Sheedy, Rehab Recycle said, ” As one of Ireland’s largest employers of people with disabilities we have a great understanding of the challenges that charities face. Our Promise It to Rehab Recycle intiative allows companies to donate old and unused equipment which we will refurbish and sell onto schools and charities at a reduced rate. We decided to run the competition to give one charity the oppurtunity to win a laptop which would hopefully be a good resource to them and make a big difference to the great work that they do.”
Keith and Nuala went to the headquaters of Aoibheann’s Pink Tie in East Wall, Dublin to deliver the laptop to volunteer Linda O’Connell. She said, ” We are thrilled with the new laptop, which will be the main laptop for the organisation. This one we are using is on it’s last legs. When I was typing letters it had a mind of it’s own. It’s brilliant to have a new laptop. It’ll make my job so much easier. We’d like to say a big thank you to Keith for nominating us and also to Promise it to Rehab Recycle!”
HOPE is the grateful recipient of seven office PCs kindly donated by Safefood, Little Island, Cork, through the Promise IT to Rehab Recycle corporate donation programme (http://www.promiseit.ie/). These PCs are being put to excellent use in both the Cork and Dublin fundraising offices.
Safefood had excess equipment that they wanted to donate to a local charity, but were anxious about data security and so contacted the Promise IT to Rehab Recycle team who facilitated the desktop donation to HOPE. Rehab Recycle bought the equipment back to their facility and securely wiped the hard drives of data, before rebuilding the PCs with a Microsoft operating system and making the delivery to HOPE.
Donations like this not only help charities by giving them low-cost IT equipment but also support the sustainable employment of 22 people with disabilities at the Rehab Recycle Tallaght Facility, while lessening the load on landfill and offering the donor peace of mind that their data has been securely wiped.
Corporate social responsibility is a core value at Symantec and nowhere more so than in Dublin. Since establishing a presence in Ireland more than 20 years ago, Symantec Ireland has helped to enrich both the environmental and social fabric of local communities. Participating in many community outreach programs and activities over the years, making Ireland one of the leading examples of environmental and corporate responsibility across Symantec’s global network.
One such initiative which is helping Symantec achieve their corporate social responsibility and environmental goals is their long standing partnership with Promise it to Rehab Recycle, which facilitate the secure donation of Symantec computers to schools, charities and community groups.
The Symantec Dublin “Green Team” held their annual “WEEE to Work” event for staff at their Ballycoolin facility in April. The recycling event is promoted is an integral part of the Symantec green agenda and is promoted internally to staff, who not only learn more about the benefits of recycling waste electrical but also learn more about how working with Rehab Recycle supports the employment of people with disabilities. The Symantec “Green Team” is a group of voluntary employees interested in identifying and implementing environmentally responsible practices that support Symantec’s environmental platform, raise awareness of the environment and culminate with measurable reductions in our carbon footprint.
In appreciation of the significant contribution that Symantec makes to Promise IT to Rehab Recycle staff were given the opportunity to win 5 desktops from Promise IT to Rehab Recycle for the school, charity or community group of their choice. Richard Beade won the prize which was delivered, on his behalf, to St John Bosco Senior Boys School on the Navan Road.
The day was truly interactive with staff having the opportunity to speak to our on-site WEEE recycling expert and were delighted to hear about the second life the Symantec equipment was getting while making a difference in a school, charity or community group. Staff were encouraged to send organisations in need of equipment our way.
Other charities which benefit from Symantec donations include Temple Street Children’s University Hospital Charity and The Barrestown Chairty.
As well as having ISO 14001 certification, Symantec achieved 81% of their 2012 environmental objectives recycling 96% of waste generated in the same year and were responsible for the donation of equipment to 14 schools and charities in Ireland.
Amgen Dun Laoghaire recently donated 250 PCs to Promise IT to Rehab Recycle. The PCs will be securely wiped, refurbished with a Microsoft operating system and passed on to schools, charities and community groups.
Paul Greene, IS Director, Amgen Dun Laoghaire, said, “We are please to support this worthy cause; this is good for the community and good for the environment.”
Welcoming the donation, Seamus Clancy, Director of Rehab Enterprises said, “When a company, like Amgen, sign up, it means that the natural life of computers and other equipment can be extended, the load on landfills lessened and people who might otherwise not have access to computers get connected. By making a Promise to Rehab Recycle, Amgen is also supporting employment for people with disabilities.”
Lenovo, Dublin City Council and Age Action
Making a promise to pass IT on with Rehab Recycle could not be easier as the people with Lenovo found out recently.
Dublin City Council currently have over one hundred sheltered housing sites around Dublin, they are working closely with Age Action to provide computer classes to residents of those sites. As we all know IT equipment is expensive but when starting from scratch to equip the sites with the necessary hardware, software and internet connections the costs soon mount up.
Enter Lenovo, one of the world’s largest PC vendors. Lenovo had in their possession end of life laptops which they passed on to Promise it to Rehab Recycle. As part of the Promise it programme the laptops were given a new lease of life, refurbished with a Microsoft Operating system and passed on to Dublin City Council and Age Action on behalf of Lenovo.
The Age Action “Getting Started” classes are now well under way at centres around the city.
Making a promise to pass IT on with Rehab Recycle gives peace of mind to companies who know that their assets are in safe hands. As part of their information security management service Promise IT to Rehab Recycle certifiably wipe data from the hard drives at our secure facility providing a complete report back to the company. All assets are then cleaned up, and refurbished using a genuine Microsoft Operating System before being passed on to schools, charities and community groups.
Sixth class students at St Pius X National school use Promise IT to Rehab Recycle donations to learn computer programming skills.
The students at St. Pius X Boys National School in Dublin benefited from the donation of 5 computers to the school through Promise IT to Rehab Recycle, we caught up with teacher Liam Gaynor and the 6th class students to see how they are using the equipment.
St Pius X has a computer room with 18 PC’s and an interactive whiteboard in each classroom. The students interact on a daily basis with IT in the classroom and once a week benefit from computer classes. The introduction to IT starts in junior infants using content rich software, as the students progress they begin to use content free software like Simple, Logo, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint developing computer skills that will benefit them throughout their education and working lives.
During our visit we sat in on a class about computer programming. The students showed a keen interest in the demonstration by Mr. Gaynor and were clearly eager to try it for themselves! Much discussion ensued as students set about the task of actually programming the desktops to create shapes and make them move.
Using a computer programming tool called Simple, the students wrote programming codes to create graphics on the screen, they then programmed the shapes to make them move, disappear and reappear. The class took a truly interactive from as groups gathered around PC’s discussing the shapes they wanted, the colours to be used and the animation to take place, hands were raised, questions asked and answered with the lesson culminating in an explosion of colour and animation from each screen.
It was fantastic to see computers that had been donated by Promise IT to Rehab Recycle being put to such good use – not only for the teaching of IT skills but also in encouraging team work, the development of a theme, and interaction between students to achieve a common goal.
This commitment to developing the IT skills of the students can only continue if they have access to equipment, interactive whiteboards are a significant investment costing upwards of €3000, each whiteboard needs a computer or laptop to power it – it’s easy to see where school budgets get used. However with donations schemes like Promise IT to Rehab Recycle, schools have greater access to vital low cost IT equipment that comes with a Microsoft operating system.
St Pius X places significant emphasis on the instruction of IT skills to all students from an early age, learning about using computers begins in infants and is developed throughout the student’s time in the school. The school prides itself not only on the academic accolades achieved like the Junior Engineering Class of Ireland, but also on sporting achievements such as All Ireland U13 Olympic Handball Champions and arts achievements like appearing as part of the National Children’s Choir in the National Concert Hall.
