England Lacrosse are pleased to announce the launch of the ‘Bouncing off the Walls’ fundraising campaign, in partnership with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which aims to raise money to buy computer equipment for vulnerable young people.

Ofcom estimates that almost two million children in the UK do not have access to a laptop, desktop, or tablet at home and the ‘Blow a Raspberry at COVID’ campaign hopes to raise an initial £20,000 to buy 100 computer packages for those in need.

Raspberry Pi are a UK-based charity that “works to put the power of computing and digital making into the hands of people all over the world”.

The ‘Bouncing off the Walls’ campaign will raise money for their Learn at Home initiative which has recently been scaled up due to the latest national lockdown and the urgency of some people’s situations.

For less than £200, Raspberry Pi can provide a vulnerable young person with everything they need to learn at home, including:

• A Raspberry Pi desktop computer;

• A monitor;

• A webcam;

• Educational software;

• Ongoing support from a youth worker and the Raspberry Pi Foundation team.

England Lacrosse are asking everyone to join us as we try to achieve one million wall balls, raise money for the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and get active this new year.

To take on the challenge with us, all you have to do is donate (or ask your family and friends to sponsor you) £1 for every 100 wall balls you complete; 2,000 wall balls will help the Raspberry Pi Foundation purchase one computer package.

For every £200 raised, a young person will receive their own Raspberry Pi computer kit.

It doesn’t matter if you have a lacrosse stick or not, any bat-type implement can be used to take part in our challenge whether that’s a tennis racket, a cricket bat, or even your hands!

It’s a great way to keep active during the national lockdown and is a way to help us raise money for vulnerable young people who need up to date technology now maybe more than ever.