Irwin Mitchell Working With Teenage Cancer Trust; Maggie’s and National Literacy Trust To Deliver Life-Changing Digital Developments

Irwin Mitchell has donated £30,000 from recycling aged and unwanted IT equipment to enable its three national charity partners to invest in projects from online web support and digital literacy, to new IT suites at Maggie’s centres at NHS sites across the country.

The law firm raised the funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust; Maggie’s and the National Literacy Trust by recycling old laptops and server equipment, with the £30,000 raised being shared among the three to help deliver critical technology-related projects.

The donation is set to be matched by the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation (IMCF), meaning the total shared among the three charities will be £60,000. An independent charity founded in 1997, the IMCF has raised over £3 million for good causes in the UK and abroad.

The donation follows an initiative established three years ago, when a similar donation was made to the Laptops for Kids campaign, helping local schoolchildren access much needed technology.

Teenage Cancer Trust is using the funds to support the roll-out of an online web-based support service, to aid feedback and check-in with nurses and patients at home receiving treatment. Maggie’s is replacing desktop computers used by people living with cancer in their centres, aiding access to online support services.

National Literacy Trust is using the money to support 200 students in 20 locations with their critical digital media literacy skills and providing schools with access to online training and support. The project has a particular focus on supporting girls at risk of school exclusion.

Led by Fiona Benoist and the Irwin Mitchell CIO team, the recycling scheme also works to significantly reduce the amount of computer hardware that goes to landfill with 100% of all equipment being recycled, while the money raised is always invested in charitable work that focuses on digital inclusion.

Fiona Benoist, Director of IT Service & Platforms at Irwin Mitchell, said: “It’s thanks to the tenacity and dedication of colleagues from across the business who are passionate about supporting our communities and doing business responsibly that we’ve been able to do this. They found innovative solutions to challenges which were preventing this from happening and have built the scheme into our ways of working. I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved. This is an initiative we will continue to run each year as we continue to evolve and recycle our physical IT hardware estate.” 

In May, Irwin Mitchell marked a year of working with its new charity partners, which replaced the former charity of the Year initiative.

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“In addition to supporting our charity partners via traditional routes, we’re delighted to be able to combine our commitment to sustainability and empowering our communities by using recycled technology to support digital projects.

“The three charities do amazing work in the communities in which they operate and this additional funding will enable them to do even more, using funds from legacy IT to support new tech based initiatives is a great way to give something back and we look forward to seeing the results.” Kate Fergusson - Head of Responsible Business

Hannah Harding, Corporate partnerships lead at Maggie’s, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Irwin Mitchell for this additional funding. Our guest desktop computers are a vital source of information and independence for our centre visitors some of whom may not have internet access or access to a computer at home. The funds kindly donated by Irwin Mitchell will be used to upgrade our guest computers giving our visitors a safe space to communicate with relatives and friends and access support services and benefits support that are often only available online.”

Emma Wiffin, Corporate Partnerships Manager at National Literacy Trust, said: “Thanks to Irwin Mitchell, we can now do even more to empower girls in alternative provision to develop their critical digital media literacy skills that can be so important for their future lives and careers. This new funding will enable us to support 200 students across 20 settings, providing schools with online resource materials and making a big difference to teachers and pupils alike. It also means we can offer more access to online training and support than ever before.”

Heather Bowen, Senior relationship manager, at Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “The roll out of our IAMs for teenage cancer patients is a vital component of our services. This donation means we can expand our online support services providing a dedicated portal for patients, whether at home or in hospital and providing tablet hardware where required.

“This helps provide real time feedback between nurses and patients receiving treatment at home and helps to provide our young people with a normal life and we’re very grateful to Irwin Mitchell for their support in enabling our tech-based services to be made available more widely.”

It’s anticipated this initial funding will be the beginning of further contributions throughout the year as additional legacy equipment is recycled over the weeks and months ahead.