Updated: Sep 25
During Covid I’ve read many comments by parents on social media about their children’s education. It would seem that those who can afford to send their off-springs to private schools have had their children tutored every day, with some children saying the amount of work feels like it has been increased and that it is “too much”. Considering they are going straight in to class without leaving their houses, this doesn’t surprise me.
Meanwhile some children in the same country have had no schooling during the pandemic.
The impact of COVID-19 on young people and the youth sector is not at all helping the pervasive issues that were already threatening the social and personal development of the UK’s young people and no-one will be surprised that severe reductions in funding is putting the youth sector in an extremely precarious state.
Someone I know posted about the plight of young people in the UK right now and I asked him about his involvement. He, Mark Nicholas, has been a supporter of UK Youth since 2013 and mentioned that the Charity is an umbrella organisation covering 40 youth clubs across the United Kingdom. They are making every effort to continue support services by moving them online. However, this isn’t realistic for many young people in Britain.
Mark said that the Charity is desperately short of laptops and tablets needed to help keep the youth sector connected, engaged and mobilised. In order to provide support now and after the crisis, he and businessman, Martin O’Connor, have received a pledge of x100 refurbished devices via Hamilton Rentals in Wokingham and Bell Integration – a fantastic start.
IT training for volunteers, staff and young people to use the IT effectively is also a priority.
If you think your organisation can donate hardware, training and\or lower cost internet connectivity, please reach out to Mark who is also on Twitter
Thank you for reading and please reach out if you or your company can help.