Darrel Arjoon says “a passion for helping young people” was behind his decision to donate free laptops to all the mentors working on Levelling the Playing Field.
The laptops are supplied by London-based company, Reuse Technology Group, which specialises in refurbishing and supplying sustainable hardware.
They will be used by the 60 assigned mentors working directly with children on programmes run by our local delivery partners across London, Gwent, the West Midlands and South Yorkshire.
“As someone who ran away from home in the Caribbean at 17 to come to England, I support any cause that inspires young people who haven’t had many opportunities to realise their potential,” said Darrel, Reuse Technology’s Director.
After working for many years as a paediatric nurse and lecturer, Darrel founded Reuse Technology in 2009. The company now employs 15 people at its factory in Dagenham, all of whom were long-term unemployed before being given the opportunity to train with them.
The firm has a deeply embedded socially, environmentally and financially sustainable ethos.
Darrel explains: “We’ve created an ecosystem where we take out equipment from larger corporates who are doing upgrades, we refurbish it, re-use it and re-sell it within a second market where brand new equipment isn’t essential.
“We’ve created a secondary supply chain of refurbished goods rather than it simply being put into landfill. If anything is not fit for purpose we recycle the material for re-use. The whole operation is environmentally sustainable and the business model is profitable.”
This donation marks the first time Reuse Technology have committed to helping a social project in this way by offering hardware free of charge.
Justin Coleman, COO and Co-Founder of the Alliance of Sport, which manages Levelling the Playing Field, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Darrel for this donation, which is a very significant contribution towards the success of Levelling the Playing Field.
“These laptops will allow us to record, collect and monitor data from our network of mentors across England and Wales, helping us formulate a clear picture of best practice and helping put together a template to scale up across the country.”