FreeIT - Stafford.

[FreeITstafford]

Huge thanks to everyone who's dropped their unwanted gadgets to our donation points, here's one example:
This HP laptop has had a full HM Government standard "3 pass" secure erase, we've also upgraded some parts, replaced the clock backup battery, and refreshed the internal thermal bonding to make it reliable for years to come.
We've PAT tested the charger, and It's had a new, updated installation of Windows, and a stack of free starter software.
Now it can start its new life where it's desperately needed, with a family who would have otherwise had nothing.
We couldn't do any of this without you all

If you like what we’re doing, please consider:
Leave us a review
uk.trustpilot.com/review/freeitstafford.org
Donate to our crowd funder
paypal.me/freeitstafford
Buy us a coffee
ko-fi.com/freeitstafford

 

[FreeITstafford]

Please drop your bric-a-brac here, Stafford's own prominent and respected Community Recycling Hub, which we are blessed to be associated with.
All the funds they raise from sales of your unused bits and bobs, are split fairly between several local non-profits and established charities, including us

And of course, you can always visit their ebay or facebook pages and treat yourself to a new trinket!
Tranquility and Roots, who manage the hub, also run many fundraiser events such as vegan markets, and clothes and books sales. Please head over and give them a follow to keep up to date with their antics

https://www.facebook.com/rehomeandrepurpose
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/reuseandrepurposestaffordshire

 

[littleme]

Please drop your bric-a-brac here, Stafford's own prominent and respected Community Recycling Hub, which we are blessed to be associated with.
All the funds they raise from sales of your unused bits and bobs, are split fairly between several local non-profits and established charities, including us

And of course, you can always visit their ebay or facebook pages and treat yourself to a new trinket!
Tranquility and Roots, who manage the hub, also run many fundraiser events such as vegan markets, and clothes and books sales. Please head over and give them a follow to keep up to date with their antics

https://www.facebook.com/rehomeandrepurpose
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/reuseandrepurposestaffordshire

View attachment 13622

I saw a post on Facebook saying that they needed books, do they accept children's/teenagers books and do they take DVDs?

 

[FreeITstafford]

I saw a post on Facebook saying that they needed books, do they accept children's/teenagers books and do they take DVDs?

Do it

 

[FreeITstafford]

A huge thanks to all of our sponsors and one-off donors.
We've just wrapped up our second fiscal year and in the aim of transparency, it turns out that our total income for the last 12 months was £4547, and our outgoings £4280. That leaves just enough to pay our secure storage this month, until our 3rd year sponsorships begin to arrive in the bank.
It might seem like a lot, our project is embryonic on the scale of things, but with expenses like our repair parts, specialised tools, account fees, packing materials, software licensing, test equipment calibration, and now our secure storage unit too, that's what it costs us to do what we do, at our current scale. We're spending every penny wisely and fully, and of course the key part is that we will always be non-profit.
It's both exciting and scary, because it means that if we can raise only an extra £500 this coming year through sponsorships and your kind one-off pledges to our PayPal, this time next year we'll meet the £5000 threshold required to register for a proper charity status.
We couldn't do any of this without you all

 

[littleme]

Took a bag of Teenagers books, and a big bag of dvds along to Tranquility today. The lady there gave me a leaflet with all the things that they accept.....here we are.....

I've got a few days off on holiday soon, so I'm going to have a big sort out, especially the spare room (dumping ground) which we were supposed to sort out before covid .....lots more going their way!

 

[FreeITstafford]

Please show your love for the team at Capcon Limited, for donating a mountain of equipment to us, not least this snazzy Lenovo laptop and charger.
We've carried out a certified secure erase, a bunch of electrical and functionality tests, and it's been installed with the latest version of Windows and free starter software.
Another one saved from e-waste, and now it can start its new life bridging the digital divide!
https://www.facebook.com/CapconLimited
https://www.capcon.co.uk/

 

[FreeITstafford]

Yep, we did it again...
Another 3 of your unwanted PC's, and 3 laptops, with all their associated monitors and gizmos, safely dropped to Penkridge Middle School.
These will be distributed to a multitude of other schools in the ST19 area, the first to benefit from this lot (and there will be more) is Princefield First School.
Thanks to all of you who have supported us on our journey and continue to allow us to create these essential community links, so that we can fight the e-waste battle and make sure this equipment ends up raring and ready to go, where it's so desperately needed.

 

[FreeITstafford]

Wow, will we ever rest with all this virtual caffeine?!
Thank you so much, it really makes such a difference to the bigger picture

You can support us too, simply visit www.ko-fi.com/freeitstafford

 

[FreeITstafford]

We're sure many of you will have one of these cables hidden away in a drawer somewhere...
Please, let them see daylight!
If you have one you can spare, they are invaluable to us.

 

[FreeITstafford]

Such an extremely kind, hand crafted, humbling gesture, from the lovely people at Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary.
What a testament to the hard work of our team, and the kindness of all of our donors and sponsors, for allowing us to get vital equipment to places where it's needed most

 

[FreeITstafford]

Some more hefty thanks and tags necessary today!
Firstly to the team at Staffordshire UNISON for their very generous donation of laptops, which we've earmarked for Penkridge schools

And then especially to the very lovely and patient team at The Calibration Centre Ltd, who'd stored items for us for quite some time. Some fairies came along last night and worked their magic, and today we've rehomed some of the equipment they donated to us only yesterday. It's gone to the brilliant AEDdonate in Stone, for use in their charity shops and administration

This takes our total rehomed internet-ready devices to 726, and we're still not counting all the monitors, keyboards, webcams, speaker sets, and the other odds and ends that we've meticulously cleaned and tested to create full packages

 

[FreeITstafford]

Another one ready to rock...
Huge thanks to the donor of this funky red laptop, and to our sponsors and PayPal supporters for allowing us to kit it out with a brand new battery

This will be off to its new home next week, where it's so desperately needed.
Let's work together to bridge the digital divide and promote sustainability.

#DigitalEquity #DigitalDivide #EWaste #DonateMoney #Charity #SustainableFuture #AccessToTechnology #BridgingTheGap #DigitalInclusion #DonateElectronics #TechnologyForAll #ReduceWaste #SustainableLiving #SocialImpact #CommunityOutreach #Empowerment #EducationForAll #EmpowerCommunities #PositiveChange #GlobalGoals #TechDonation #TechForGood #DonateToday

 

[FreeITstafford]

So, erm... we're here again, on the beg. Here's what's happened.

We've had a donation of virtually brand new laptops. All identical, with all their original protective packaging, unblemished screens, and factory fresh smell. These things are spotless, immaculate, literally unused.

But therein lies the issue. Because they have been unused for some time, they all have dead batteries. We've done what we can to try and get them to charge, but alas, to no avail. In a couple of those cases, even having the battery connected is preventing the laptop from starting.

We'd really like to replace them all so the laptops can go to new homes, and on the scale of battery prices they are luckily at the cheaper end, just under 15 quid each.

Trouble is, there are 7 laptops.

Our sponsors do a grand job of paying our biggest expenses but this was a bit unexpected and we'd have to sacrifice and juggle priorities to cover it, so we're touting to the masses instead for this one.

Would any of you lovely people like to buy us a single battery? It's the only piece missing of each of these 7 jigsaws and it would be much easier for us to raise if it's collectively absorbed.

If you can help, we'd really welcome your pledge, we rely on public donation through PayPal, and the sponsorships of kind business owners, to keep our project alive.
www.paypal.me/freeitstafford

 

[FreeITstafford]

***Update: we're covered! Thank you so much to all of you, we've another half a dozen waiting of other various breeds and we're able to fund a couple of those now as well, but please, don't stop there, we can always do more!***

 

[FreeITstafford]

We can't thank you all enough.
Here's what you all did

Not only did you fund the 7 batteries we needed in bulk, but also an extra two

 

[tek-monkey]

Guessing you have no use for a brand new Dell 3330DN? Only unboxed last week, but was stored in the attic for years and both toners I have are duff. One prints everything with a greyish background, the other is very patchy. I've replaced so it's going to the tip otherwise.

 

[FreeITstafford]

Unfortunately we had to stop taking printers, for a few reasons really, the space they take up in storage, the cost of kitting them out with inks and toners, there's not even any scrap value to them either, it's mostly plastics, but also we found them strangely hard to rehome, nobody wanted them. The icing on the cake you could say, was an incident where a hidden crack released the entire contents of a black ink cartridge into my foot well.

 

[FreeITstafford]

And we're on the beg.... again.
This time it's not money we need (although that would always help), it's fittings for our secure storage.
As you can imagine we deal with a lot of monitors, and there's only so many ways we can stack them on the floor until screens start getting damaged by neighbouring stands, so we're on the hunt for some racking.
If you, or somebody you know, is about to dismantle a sturdy but compact shelving unit, like pictured (not necessarily with smiling woman or fake weight included), we'd love to hear from you, and we'll pay our way.

 

[FreeITstafford]

Unfortunately we can only take your unwanted computer equipment, and not your random consumer electronics.
But we know somebody that will, and the proceeds help several local non-profits, including us