In Stratford upon Avon, Solo generously donates unused IT equipment to Mencap

This week I caught up with Rachel Hewitt, Business Administrator at Heart of England Mencap, about the IT equipment the charity collected from a boutique homeware retailer nearby.

Solo had been looking to find a new home for 10 monitors plus keyboards and various other IT accessories, and was delighted when Heart of England Mencap expressed an interest in the items.

I chatted to Rachel about how she had first come across A Good Thing:

“One of your team at A Good Thing sent an email to our shared inbox, letting us know there was IT equipment on offer nearby, and we jumped on it straightaway. It seemed like an amazing opportunity!”

What a brilliantly simple online platform

I was keen to find out from Rachel what she had thought of the sign-up process, given she was a brand-new user:

“It was such a simple and intuitive process. The information that came up on our charity was completely accurate when I signed us up, which was a lovely surprise. I had been anticipating having to manually correct some of what was there, so that was great.”

Digital transformation is underway

Rachel loved the concept of A Good Thing so much, she told us she would even have signed up if there hadn’t been anything immediately available. But the IT equipment was exactly what Mencap were in need of, and they were really thrilled that there were so many monitors available – not just one or two:

“We’re in the middle of going through a digital transformation process at the charity, and these will be such a great asset.”

Very quickly Rachel was put in contact with Tanya from Solo, and they arranged to meet. Rachel was thrilled with the equipment when she arrived to collect it:

“The monitors were in brilliant condition, and Tanya had been so easy to communicate with. The whole thing was so easy. When I arrived, Tanya showed me a big box of other IT equipment and accessories – all things that Mencap would be able to make great use of. I was delighted, and very happy to accept these donations as well as the original monitors.”

A lovely connection with a local firm

While Rachel was there collecting the equipment, Tanya gave her a tour of the Solo premises and they had a good chat about Mencap’s work, which Rachel really enjoyed. Sometimes the connections that are formed during these matches can turn into great and ongoing relationships – something we at A Good Thing are so happy to encourage. Part of our mission is to go ‘beyond the one-off’ – building real links between businesses and their local charities and communities.

Rachel explained to me that these are the sorts of links that Mencap seeks to nurture:

“We’re always working to create opportunities and connections for the people we work with. It’s such a big part of what we do.”

A mission to support adults with autism and learning disabilities

Rachel told me a little about Mencap and their work:

“We work across Warwickshire and Worcestershire to support adults with autism and learning disabilities to live the lives they choose. Our work falls into three categories: supported living (which is the largest part of what we do), respite and residential, and day opportunities. We are all about helping the people we work with to become full members of society.”

She told me that the new IT equipment will be brilliantly helpful to the work of the charity:

“This donation will help with staff training – many are currently using their phones – so that we can improve the quality of the care we provide. It will also help us with the report-filling we spend time on, and of course the people we support will benefit hugely as well. We are working hard to help them become digital!”

Rachel has been thrilled with the donation from Solo, and finished with a big thank you to them:

“Using A Good Thing has been just amazing. Hopefully there will be lots more to come!”