Despite technology playing a big part in our everyday lives, there are millions of families around the world that are unable to afford the basic tool to access such technology. In the UK alone, a 2020 report estimates that up to 1.8 million children do not have access to a computer at home. The pandemic moved us all to a more flexible and digital way of life, making technology an essential part of the education process, which means that many children across the country are at a serious disadvantage.

The LG team in the UK has long been passionate about giving youth the chance to reach their full potential. So, in collaboration with ReachOut, a leading UK charity that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with weekly one-to-one mentoring, helping develop character, raise aspirations, and improve academic attainment, the LG UK team decided to take action. Starting with four schools across London, LG announced the Laptop Library program to support young people with free access to state-of-the-art technology and improve their digital education experience.

As part of the program, LG UK donated LG gram laptops to each school and equipped them with a portable and secure store and charge solutions which students can use to book out laptops for use at school or home specifically to support one-to-one mentoring sessions.

“It is incredibly tough for some students to keep up without access to proper technology,” said Kim Han-ju, IT Product Director at LG Electronics UK. “With our Laptop Library program, we hope to have a positive impact on the lives of these young people, each of whom deserves a future as bright as anyone else’s.”

Around 2,600 children are set to benefit from the initiative across the four schools, with plans to expand the initiative nationwide and donate LG Laptop Libraries to more schools in 2022 and beyond. To kick off the program, England football legend and father, Emile Heskey, visited one of the schools to unveil the Laptop Library and give a motivational talk to the students on the importance of education in setting up the foundations for a bright future.

“School education is so important in setting yourself up for the future, and I feel we sometimes take things like laptops for granted when there are some children that simply don’t have access,” said Emile, praising the program. “I’m really pleased to help launch this brilliant program alongside LG and ReachOut.”

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