Donate a days pay to support a young person's future. Every young person deserves an education.

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110 students were identified as needing devices, so far 49 devices have been distributed with help from this campaign and the school's network.

We have been using this opportunity to inspire the students into STEM and tech initiatives when they receive their devices, the tech industry needs the diversity these young minds offer.

Your donations are very valuable, we'd like to thank you so much for the support! Although lockdown will be easing this does not solve the problem, many lessons throughout the term are likely to still be virtual due to a phased return. Large groups of students may also need to quarantine if their social bubbles get an infection. The crux of this campaign is to tackle the impact of digital poverty which has only been amplified by the pandemic. Thank you again for helping our future generations.

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Covid has impacted all of our lives and for some students, this may have long-term effects. Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are already less likely to go into further education, which further widens the gap in social inequality.

Schools are working tirelessly and are having to make some seriously tough decision and it's not okay - Catherine, Deputy Head Teacher

Just in City Academy Bristol (CAB) alone, as of today there are at least 80 students who do not have access to a good quality of education due to a lack of technology. This number is growing and the school has found that many students are embarrassed to admit they don't have access to technology at home, and these are all students who do not qualify for the government scheme.

In Bristol, 17,200 children (21%) live in income deprived wards and some of these wards are named as being in the top 10% most income deprived in England. City Academy Bristol (CAB) which has 1,015 students serves one of these wards.

City Academy Bristol, has been an amazing pillar in the community. On average, only 37% of Year 7s attending CAB have a reading age of 11+, despite this, students leave having obtained, on average, one grade above what they would have at another school.

Our Aim: To help raise enough money or have laptops donated for 80 children to have access to an education. We will source the laptops and distribute to City Academy Bristol.

We are asking you to be bold. All donations are welcome and for those of you where a day's pay won't affect your year but can make a huge difference for the future of a young mind, a brave donation is powerful.

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Deputy Head, Catherine Hickey, says:

The experience of students, parents and staff at City Academy is underpinned by a strong sense of equity and equality. As an Academy serving a community based in one of the most deprived areas of the country, it is our responsibility to remove any barrier to access, progress, participation, achievement and attainment. During periods of partial closure, the school has endeavoured to enact these aims by providing an education that meets the needs of all of our students remotely by providing live lessons timetabled as their usual school day. However, with an ever-growing number of our students not having adequate access to technology we know we are currently failing to meet this aim. Whilst the purpose of this work is to increase student access to technology, the outcome of it will be to remove another barrier many of our students face.

Each student unable to access their online education comes with their own story, they could be: one of seven children working from home on one device, the carer for a parent or other family member who cannot access their normal support because of the pandemic, or part of a family where it is more pressing that food is purchased than ICT equipment.

At the City Academy we exist to address inequality so that all students are equipped to make the choice to: go to university, choose their career and improve the world so that we make a positive contribution to society. Reversing digital poverty will have a huge impact on the life chances of our children and provide them with a real choice beyond their time with us, a choice which not all of our students are equipped to make.

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This campaign will be focusing on getting 80 laptops for students and supporting the teachers with technical help and knowledge.

1. All cash donations will go towards purchasing laptops for students

2. We are looking for laptop donations from organisations and individuals

3. We are looking for volunteers to provide time and assist teachers during open office hours with Tech skills through Karma Volunteering App.

About

This fundraiser is a collaboration instigated by 3 individuals; Saiwa Ratha, Kate Mulligan, Juskiran Chadha who were in a position to be more hands on with their help.

City of Bristol Academy who are making a huge impact on the life chances of our children and provide them with a real choice beyond their time at school.

Empire Fighting Chance who strive to give as many people as possible a fighting chance to succeed. They also work closely with young people and schools to help them achieve their goals and ambitions.

Danielle Dodoo founder Karma volunteering app who is passionate about making a difference in meaningful causes.

Want to get involved and volunteer your time?

Many of our teachers have had a massive learning curve using technology in a way they have never had to before. We will hold open office hours that teachers can join should they have a query. We need people who are familiar with some of the following applications to provide light tech support to teachers. Let's help our teachers so they can focus their time on making the biggest impact and not waste time with tech settings. Our volunteering time will be managed through the Karma Volunteering App.

An idea of applications to support:

Zoom, Slack, MS Teams, MS Word, PowerPoint, Email applications

Please email kate.rl.mulligan@gmail.com to find out how you can volunteer your time and skills!

Once laptops are purchased any surplus funds that do not total the cost of purchasing one laptop will be donated to Empire Fighting Chance to be used on other projects for young people in Bristol.