The Radford Foundation has generously donated 30 Chromebook laptops to Farmilo Primary School to assist with home learning.
The charity – set up by Mansfield Town owners John and Carolyn Radford – is dedicated to the development of young people in Mansfield.
Their latest donation – which follows the recent £15,000 donation to local athletics club Mansfield Harriers - has seen 30 Chromebooks sent to local school Farmilo Primary in Pleasley.
With just 48% of students currently learning in the classroom due to COVID-19 restrictions, home learning is more important than ever.
With these laptops, the children will be able to learn remotely and maximise the quality of education they receive during the pandemic.
Nik Springthorpe, trustee of the Radford Foundation, said: “We recognised that children are currently having to learn from home so the Foundation decided that it would be useful to help the school with the laptops we provided.
“We’ve managed to get hold of 30 laptops, which I understand the school has found very difficult. So it was great that we were able to step in and give them that support.
“They have 48% of the students at school, but the other half of the school are having to learn from home. It gives them that opportunity to continue to be educated.
“Both John and Carolyn [Radford], who set up the Foundation, have a sole intent of being able to give back to the community and be able to help clubs, sporting venues, schools and children throughout Mansfield.”
Linda Priest, school business manager at Farmilo Primary, said: “I sent an appeal out to the school’s contacts, explaining that we were struggling to get hold of devices for the children to use while working from home during the lockdown.
“Within two minutes of that appeal going out, John Radford contacted me directly and said, ‘I can help, I’ll sort some devices out.’ And that’s exactly what he did.
“I heard within days that we were being given 30 devices to loan out to families that were struggling to access the online learning.
“John has gone above and beyond – he’s got us 30 brand new Chromebooks, which the children are finding amazing.
“The Chromebooks can access live, online Zoom classes, which means the children can join in with the class and see the other children in their bubbles.
“The Radford Foundation are all about offering support to the community and it’s great to see the impact that they are having.”
