QBE donates laptops to school to help with student technology shortage
QBE, the business insurance specialist has donated 40 laptops to a school in need in Gloucestershire following an appeal for better technology. The laptops, which were spare following QBE’s technology review, were given to The Forest High School in Cinderford.
Ian Peak, Service Delivery and Operations Manager for QBE Europe, said: “One of QBE’s employees had heard about the school’s appeal for laptops and wanted to see what we could do to help. Happily, we were able to donate the older laptop models that we had at the time.”
Ian continued: “We’re delighted the technology will be used to help children’s educational needs and we’ll be looking at how we can further support communities and be more sustainable with our laptop stock.”
The school has appealed for further laptop donations from companies that have recently done a technology refresh, estimating that many more are needed to support their students.
Amy Roberts, Assistant Headteacher of The Forest High School, said: “We’re a small rural school so we’re not as likely to receive donations from companies as schools in more urban areas. Our school also has a high proportion of students on free school meals and with special education needs, so making sure they have the right technology to support their needs is crucial right now.”
She continued: “We’re so grateful QBE was able to provide the laptops and it is a huge improvement over the ones students are currently using. We still have a long way to go in providing more reliable and up to date technology to our students and we estimate we need a total of about 200 laptops to provide for the needs of all our students. A lot of our technology dates back to 2012 and it can often be slow and lack the capabilities they need.”
After UK restriction ease, vulnerable students will be able to apply to borrow the donated laptops to help with their coursework at home.
Authored by QBE
About QBE
QBE European Operations is part of QBE Insurance Group, one of the world’s leading international insurers and reinsurers and Standard & Poor’s A+ rated. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, QBE’s gross written premium for the year ended 31 December 2018 was US$13.7 billion.
As a business insurance specialist, QBE European Operations offers a range of insurance products from the standard suite of property, casualty and motor to the specialist financial lines, marine and energy. All are tailored to the individual needs of our small, medium and large client base.
We understand the crucial role that effective risk management plays in all organisations and work hard to understand our clients’ businesses so that we offer insurance solutions that meet their needs – from complex programmes to simpler e-trading solutions – and support them in minimising their risk exposures. Our expert risk management and rehabilitation practitioners focus on helping clients improve their risk management so that they may benefit from a reduction in claims frequency and costs.