Offering a helping hand throughout the pandemic.
Over the past 12 months, the Covid pandemic has caused extremely challenging and worrying times for many of us, but for some, it has been tremendously difficult; with mental health at an all-time high in both adults and children, charities struggling to raise vital funding and children forced to learn remotely, in many cases without the technology required, there have been numerous challenges that have had to be overcome over the past year.
We are incredibly fortunate that as an organisation, we have been able to help out with charities where possible throughout the pandemic, by supporting local communities, schools and different UK charities, both ourselves and by working with our clients, to give a helping hand through these challenging times.
Krome Technologies and Bupa donate £17,822.30 to mental health charity Mind.
Krome Technologies has been working with Bupa for over a decade, supplying and installing their desktop estate for their offices and care homes nationwide. Part of the service Krome provides for Bupa is to remove their legacy hardware for disposal, refurbish the equipment and where possible, re-sell. The amount donated to Mind, came from the proceeds from the last 12 months of re-selling refurbished equipment.
The impact of lockdown on mental health has been significant; with many people self-isolating, with no human interaction, the stress of social distancing, the loss of loved ones and even the onslaught of media coverage causing anxiety and fear is taking a huge toll on people’s mental health and wellbeing; with the potential to continue to have long-term effects after lockdown is lifted. With a charity like Mind, those suffering will be able to reach out for help and receive support and advice. We are delighted to be able to work with our client Bupa to support such a fantastic and important mental health charity.
“At Bupa we’re all about helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives. We’re proud to work with Krome to refurbish Bupa equipment so that it doesn’t go to landfill and donate to the Bupa Foundation’s partner, Mind, to support young people’s mental wellbeing. We also have prioritised donating laptops to schools and charities in need during the pandemic.”
Anna Russell, Director of CRS and Bupa Foundation.
“We are delighted to have Krome support the Bupa Foundation’s partnership with Mind through their equipment re-sell scheme. The coronavirus pandemic is having a huge impact on our mental health, so these generous donations will help us be there for everyone who needs us at this crucial time. A big thank you to Krome, Bupa and the Bupa Foundation for their continued support.”
Emma Ihsan, Head of Corporate Partnership at Mind.
Laptop donation to Mental Health charity, Richmond Fellowship.
Krome were approached by Social Finance, who are a not-for-profit organisation focused on finding ways of tackling social problems in the UK and globally. Warren Trunchion Individual Placement & Support Regional Lead with IPS Grow at Social Finance explains:
“Digital poverty has been a growing concern for many of the services I am supporting over the last year. Having done some research, although there are various schemes available to services and individuals to gain IT equipment, these are often oversubscribed to and difficult for clients to navigate. After speaking with Richmond Fellowship I reached out to Krome Technologies who I knew had supported other community initiatives and were local to the service. After the initial introduction, I was confident that Krome were the right people to talk to, but have also been genuinely impressed by the willingness they have shown in donating both their time, expertise and support to compliment the laptops they are donating directly to clients.”
Richmond Fellowship is a national mental health charity that works with individuals, families, and communities, supporting people with mental health on their journey to recovery. Mental health awareness is more important now than ever with many people locking down alone with no access to family, friends, and in some cases without the technology to stay connected. With people that suffer with mental health, being forced into isolation, it is crucial for them to be able to communicate with their loved ones or support providers or to be able to work, or perhaps look for work.
Krome Technologies, Social Finance & Richmond Fellowship have worked together to give those individuals in need laptops in order to reduce the level of isolation and hopefully help them on their road to recovery.
Laptops for Schools
As most UK school-aged children having only spent 4 months in the classroom over the past 12 months, remote learning for children has become the new normal, and learning has predominantly been delivered online. Many households across the UK have faced the pressure of not having the suitable technology available to support their children’s learning, therefore potentially missing out on vital elements of their education.
With an estimate of 9% of children in the UK not having access to a laptop, desktop or any other suitable device for home learning, we wanted to support those in need in our local community.
As there has been a shortage of laptops and learning devices for children, it has been our pleasure to help support some local schools in need, by donating or loaning the technology required to assist with remote learning, making these challenging times easier for both parents and young students.
Krome donated 20 laptops to a local school, Binfield Primary School to aid their families that lacked the required technology to support online remote learning. Mrs Mistry, Deputy Headteacher of Binfield Primary School, commented:
“Thank you so much for the laptops – such a lovely gesture and so gratefully received by our parents.”
Additionally, we were able to loan 20 laptops to Ravenscote Junior School in Camberley, to be distributed out to families that did not have access to a laptop for their children’s online learning, 5 of these laptops were given to South Camberley Primary and Nursery school, part of the Engage, Enrich, Excel Academies (EEA) Trust. Ravenscote were delighted by the support, remarking:
“An enormous thank you to Krome Technologies who have loaned us 20 laptops to support families with their remote learning. Thank you for going the extra mile to support our community. Thank you!”
The Cambridge Primary School also received laptops from Krome, they went on to say:
“Thank you to Krome for the loan of laptops; supporting our families with remote learning. Covid-19 restrictions have presented many challenges to so many, and this is one thing less to worry about. Thank you.”
Shooting Star Children’s Hospice Charity – £5,170.00 raised in 2020 and ongoing fundraising efforts in 2021
Krome has been a corporate partner to Shooting Star Children’s Hospice’s since September 2018; we are committed to helping to raise the vital funds needed for them to continue to support families across Surrey and London, who face truly unimaginable realities.
Throughout the year of the pandemic, normal group fundraising activities were difficult, however, our team came up with some innovative remote challenges, including a virtual ride across America, a team steps challenge, and a Family Fortunes quiz night. Collectively the Krome team managed to raise £5,170 for the hospice throughout 2020 and are currently taking on the “Race to the Moon” virtual challenge for them this month, which has already raised £4,498, and we will continue to add further fundraising activities to the calendar throughout 2021.
Alex Rennie, Corporate Relationship Manager at Shooting Star Children’s Hospice commented on what this ongoing support means to the charity:
“The continued support of companies like Krome is simply incredible. It costs £8.8 million every year to deliver our vital care to families and just 8% of that income comes from central government funding, so we rely on the generosity of our supporters and companies like Krome to keep our care service running. Without their support, we could not provide the care that we do to families when they truly need it most and for that, we are eternally grateful. This has been such a difficult time for everyone, and we are humbled by the continuous support of our community.”
Whilst the lockdown restrictions are now starting to lift, we aim to continue to support our local communities and charities where needed. Working together to help make life easier for those that find themselves in the most challenging of times.
