FreeIT - Stafford.

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
Without a charity number we're stuck in limbo. Can't get that without turning over 5 grand... can't do that without a grant... can't get a grant without a bank account in the organisation's name... and we've already been refused for that. We have an application in with a different bank and they have been asking all the right questions but literally everything depends on it, and every refusal is a bad mark against the trustees' credit scores.
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
Will you help us buy some parts?
We've a few laptops needing replacement keyboards and batteries, and not very much cash left. With a rough average cost of each of those items being £20, if we can ask 10 of you to donate just £2 each we'll provide the repair skills for free and place another device into the hands of somebody who desperately needs it
1f642.png

Thank you all
1f642.png

www.paypal.me/freeitstafford

Sent, keep up the great work guys.
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
A huge thank you to everyone who responded to our battery appeal, as a result of your super kind donations we've in fact been able to buy repair parts for five laptops and not just one!
With the benefit of these parts, tomorrow morning Neil and Jack will deliver our 250th device, and now we can gift even more over the next few days, we'll tell you all about those as they happen
1f642.png

We're blown away, thank you all for helping us to help so many others! Please don't stop there, if you can donate a quid or two to keep us afloat please follow this link: www.paypal.me/freeitstafford
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
!! There is much much excitement at Free IT headquarters today !!
Not only have we just delivered our 250th device, we've also today been informed that after jumping through several hoops, producing in-depth projections out of thin air, and after an excruciating wait, we have FINALLY been accepted for a proper bank account! This will open huge doors to funding for us, and eventually an actual registered charity number! This is a mahoosive step for the project!
Here's our 250th device, donated by one of you lovely people and fixed up for free by our team of tech guys, and now in the hands of the admin team at Staffordshire Baby Bank
1f642.png

Screenshot_20210826-135324_Photos-01.jpeg
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
As part of our plan for our future, we're not only aiming to help out with refurbished kit, we're also planning some bigger and longer term projects delivering the connectivity behind it all (for free!).

We can tell you about a project we are currently working on which we've not said too much about, but which may forge our chances of achieving ongoing funding.
This is taking place at Holmcroft Youth & Community Centre and yesterday Jack and Neil spent a long day on site making headway.
Not only are we refurbishing every single PC and laptop that they own, and providing a few extra, we're also modernising their entire I.T. infrastructure to give their clients and visitors the best experience.

Here's what we're doing:
- 2TB on-site quad core file server/network storage
- 16 port switch to give us capacity to add.........
- 5 extra wired network points around the building
- 3 extra Wi-Fi access points
- Removing all the components that are "hanging off the side" and creating a proper network plan and wiring diagrams

This is a full overhaul of their entire network and digital storage solutions, and we'll finish up by liaising with their internet provider and carefully checking all of the security settings and options to keep visitors safe while they browse the internet.

Centre manager Dave has described us as a "prayer that's been answered", and we estimate that by simply using these parts which you lovely people have donated (we don't just take PC's and laptops, we accept network bits too) and the skills of our tech guys for free, we will ultimately save the charity around £10,000 which they would have had to find.

Yesterday was a bit of a rush, we'd a lot to do before the centre opens to groups next week, but we'll be working on this for a few weeks, and will be back there again very soon and get some photos of the work we've done to show you all
1f642.png


We couldn't do any of this without your kind donations of equipment, but as we don't yet have firm grant funding, we also really depend on your financial help for the daily consumable bits and bobs that we use
1f642.png
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
A huge thanks to whoever's reposting all of our news posts to the online engineering guide called Engineer-E
We didn't ask them to do this but it's really helpful and we truly appreciate the exposure
1f642.png

If you'd like to make yourself known please do and we'll thank you personally!
Find it here: >click me<
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
This is Brett.
He's one of the unseen faces of Free I.T. but he's been with us since the very beginning and is one of the 7 skilled tech guys we've got onboard.
He describes himself as having a love for "tinkering with electronics", and is also fixing up classic cars in his free time.
Brett is a retired BT engineer but has given up some of his retirement time to give us dozens of hours helping towards this project.
He's managed to revive several broken PC's which have then made their way through our comprehensive testing process and back in to the community
1f642.png

Some of our techs are a bit camera shy or otherwise respectfully not the publicity sort, but without them this project would be unviable and each has their own niche skillset and talents which the rest of us would be lost without.
Huge respects to the volunteers from all walks of life and whatever your discipline, society is indebted to you.
Capture.JPG
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
Huge thank you to Capula at Stone, who donated us a stack of their surplus equipment
1f642.png

We're keen to work with local businesses who are upgrading their I.T. provisions and who are looking for a good cause (us) to reuse their unwanted devices!
Find the write-up here: >click me<
Capture.JPG
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
Our Jack met with Tom from Rugeley 1871 Air Cadets today, at our donation point in Highfields, to hand over a few items to get their group off to a flying (pun) start running their new cadet registration system :)

Screenshot_20210907-133550_Video Player-01.jpeg
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
Another productive day for our tech guys yesterday. Neil and Jack spent the day at two sites working on ongoing projects. Our time lapse camera let us down a bit so here's what happened...
- Continued installing cabling at Holmcroft YCC. We now have 3 brand new internet ports and a beefy wi-fi extender fitted and working in the building. We traced and reconnected another 3 existing network points in the cafe and tidied up all the wiring running in to the shop area. We also completed an extra run of cable into the games room to feed another wi-fi booster and wall point, and finally we returned a laptop for visitors which we'd fully refurbished and PAT tested over the last week.
- Installed new cabling at Spark Childrens' Centre, to feed a wi-fi extender in their kitchen area which will now allow staff and parents to use the internet at the furthest point of their garden. We also upgraded one of their PC's to a twin monitor arrangement to better suit their needs and allow them to use a projector to play presentations and cartoons.
We do all this for free for the benefit of the community. to reduce e-waste and fill the digital divide. If you can help us along with some of the costs for the bits and bobs we use on these projects we'd really appreciate it
1f642.png
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
Your kind donations of unwanted equipment and help with our running costs and parts costs (and coffee) have allowed us to repurpose 263 laptops, tablets, and desktop PC's back in to the community where they are needed most, in only 8 months! And that's still not counting the number of peripherals including printers, routers, monitors, webcams and headsets, and all their connecting cables which you've given us to include, plus the days we've spent installing network infrastructure in community buildings to provide the connectivity those end users need
1f642.png

We do all this for free with your help, so if you like what we're doing please prevent us from ever resting by buying us a shot of caffeine at www.ko-fi.com/freeitstafford
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
We finally remembered to set up the camera!
It's thanks to your kind donations of equipment and cash that we've now been able to install all of the network points and wi-fi coverage that Holmcroft YCC could ever need.
You paid for all of the cable and connection points, and you've provided the extra PC's which we can now plug into this new rugged infrastructure.
We do all this for free with your help, and this will now benefit countless families and community groups.
Free IT tech guys Neil and Jack spent another long day on site to complete the installation, complementing the wiring we'd already completed (but neglected to film).
If you like what we're doing please prevent us from ever resting by sending us a shot of caffeine from www.ko-fi.com/freeitstafford or make a donation of your choice at www.paypal.me/freeitstafford
And we promise the filming will get better
1f642.png

Watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Je0SPMzYk
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
We're getting really really close to hitting a massive new milestone! By the end of this year we reckon we will have refurbished 300 laptops, PC's, and tablets and given them back to the community where they are needed most! We're at 270, with 130 of those being gifted straight to local primary schools, since we formed in January.
We can't do any of this without your kind donations of equipment and cash towards our repair parts and running costs, so if you like what we're doing and can support us, please visit these links:
Buy us a brew at www.ko-fi.com/freeitstafford
Or make a donation of your choice at www.paypal.me/freeitstafford

d-illustration-numbers-gold-isolated-white-background-clipping-path-178875836.jpg
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
If you're planning on replacing a laptop this C*(insert festive word here)*mas, please bear us in mind, we'll take your old one in the new year in any condition and give it a new lease of life where it's needed most
1f642.png
 

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
We've recently been hit with some real disappointment. We'd had promises of funding from what we thought were reliable sources, and made plans based on those in good faith, but when it came to actually needing the money, those offers have disappeared into the ether and we're left in a situation where the forecasts we'd submitted to the bank to convince them to open us an account, are miles too optimistic, and we're running drastically short of funds to allow us to keep our own promises.
We are frantically looking for main stream funding sources but initial enquiries have shown that we simply don't meet many of the pre-requisites. For example, we haven't been established for 12 months, we don't have a charity number, we don't have independently audited accounts, and so many other costly technicalities. This leaves us stuck in limbo, as to achieve any of those we need funds. The process is very backwards.
And so, we're calling on you lovely people once again to prop us up. Your donations have allowed us to make so much of a difference, and your endorsements and kind words have been truly motivating. We thought that having a bank account would open doors but behind those doors are more brick walls. With no help from our local "authorities" either it does, admittedly, feel like we're fighting an uphill battle and that the "system" is willing us to fail (we won't). The only way we can continue with the project right now is with your support, we're indebted to you all for how far you've propelled us already, but we need to appeal to you all again.
We know things are tight for everyone, but we're grateful for even the smallest donation, because pennies make pounds. We're eternally thankful to those of you who are already supporting us regularly, please don't stop now.
Thank you for stopping by and spending time out of your valuable life just to read our woes. If you haven't donated, please do consider topping up our pocket money to help us buy replacement parts and refurbishment consumables, by making a donation of your choosing at www.paypal.me/freeitstafford
(Please opt for a "friends and family" payment, if you choose "goods and services" then Paypal docks a chunk of the donation for their fees.)
 
Last edited:

FreeITstafford

Well-Known Forumite
We're looking to rehome 8 x slimline Windows 10 desktop PC's, along with their associated monitors, mice, keyboards.
They are fairly low-spec so only really suitable for light use, for example creating documents, presentations, drawings, and basic internet access (oh- and Minecraft!).
Now that we've worked our magic they will do another turn for a good few years.
We'd really like to specifically gift these to an education setting, either individually to various venues to create a single "computer corner", or en masse to one venue who may wish to equip a communal computer room, or any iteration inbetween.
If you have any suggestions, please let us know and we'll consider them all
🙂
 
Top