Vodafone has today launched a drive for more businesses to donate their unwanted devices to it’s The Great British Tech Appeal to help close the digital divide and promote a more circular economy.
Along with Good Things Foundation and their tech refurbishing partner Reconome, The Great British Tech Appeal is a Vodafone initiative that collects unwanted devices, adds connectivity, securely refurbishes and reboxes and sends them to digitally excluded people, at no cost.
“At Vodafone, we are privileged to work with a fantastic network of customers who we are proactively calling on to look at the devices they no longer want or need. We’ll work with Good Things Foundation to collect these devices, refurbish and rebox them, and provide free connectivity so that they can benefit those who need them most. Our Everyone.Connected programme has so far helped over 1 million people cross the digital divide and we aim to help a total of 4 million by 2025. We would encourage businesses to get involved, it costs nothing to donate, any data is securely wiped, and they would be doing their part in promoting the circular economy.”
Nick Gliddon, CEO of Vodafone Business, UK
Research from Good Things Foundation has shown that there are several barriers preventing businesses from donating old tech. Whilst many may have little knowledge of programmes like Tech Appeal, other fears are based around security and a perception that the process to donate devices will be complex.
Vodafone has partnered with Good Things Foundation to remove these barriers and make it easy and secure with all devices being wiped of any data before finding a new owner.
Up to 484,000 tonnes of electricals were bought by businesses and other organisations during 2019, including phones and IT equipment. More than 200,000 tonnes of electrical goods are being thrown away by businesses with general waste and 5,000 tonnes of business electricals are being fly tipped, with clean-up costs often being paid by local authorities.
At the same time, digital exclusion is at risk of rising due to the cost-of-living crisis. Research by YouGov and Development Economics, commissioned by Vodafone, predicted that up to 1 million families risk falling on the wrong side of the digital divide due to the crisis.
Lack of devices has been reported as one of the major contributing factors to digital exclusion with 35% of Brits saying that not having a device directly impacts their ability to get online. Research by The Good Things Foundation estimates that there are 10 million adults in the UK who are digitally excluded and a report by Ofcom found that 7% of households are without home internet access.
The Great British Tech Appeal is part of Vodafone’s Everyone.Connected campaign to tackle digital exclusion. Last year Vodafone reached the milestone of providing connectivity to 1 million people and has now pledged to help a total of 4 million people living on the wrong side of the digital divide by the end of 2025.
Alongside its Tech Appeal, Vodafone has also launched Essential Broadband and VOXI for Now to help bridge the digital divide, both are amongst the most affordable social broadband and mobile tariffs on the market.
“Every device donation will make a major difference to those on the wrong side of the digital divide. Donating is a great way to prolong device usage whilst also helping those who need it most.”
Helen Milner, Chief Executive of The Good Things Foundation
Vodafone’s Great British Tech Appeal accepts any device as long as the item is still working and in a useable condition. For any device which cannot be repurposed, all efforts are made to reuse parts or recycle. There is no minimum or maximum number of items that can be donated, and donations can be pre-arranged for office collection. More information on this can be found here.
