Social value, or community benefit, as it is known in Scotland, is particularly important to Symology’s customers, as they seek to increase the benefits from procurement and commissioning of goods and services to benefit their local communities. As a supplier of web based remote software, providing additional Social Value, or Community Benefits, has always been a challenge. As a result, earlier this year, Julie Lawton was appointed Customer Success Manager, to try and improve Symology’s approach in this area.  

Symology has recently moved to a fully hybrid working environment resulting in the replacement of a large amount of IT equipment including desktop computers and monitors. Whilst no longer suitable for software development, the equipment still had years of use left and was identified as being potentially invaluable for organisations such as charities and schools that cannot afford the IT equipment they need.  

It was decided that as part of Symology’s tender response for the OSRWC contract, this equipment would be donated to a charity. Symology provided a proposal pledging to OSWRC’s commitment to contributing to the social, economic, and environmental well-being of Scotland. Following an extensive investigation, Julie identified and contacted The Turing Trust as the most suitable charity, the IT recycling and education charity founded by the family of Alan Turing. In the 15 years since its formation, it has enabled access to computers for over 252,000 students across Africa, Asia, and the UK. Its overall ambition is to enable every child to enjoy the transformative power of technology. 

Following the successful award of the contract to Symology, Julie quickly set about organising the donation.  

“Working with The Turing Trust has been a delight. From initial contact through to the items being collected from our head office in Dunstable, they have helped every step of the way.” said Julie.

The Turing Trust said the donation and refurbishment of the desktop and laptop computers would enable over a thousand children to learn computing skills, while saving several tonnes of carbon emissions that the manufacture of new computers would have otherwise created. 

Julie continued, “The opportunity to give our redundant IT equipment new life is amazing. As a software development company, we want to see young people’s lives improved by giving them the digital literacy they need in the 21st century. Even the refurbishment of the PCs provides jobs and volunteering opportunities for the Turing Trust in their Edinburgh HQ. Some of our donation is heading to Malawi, so we’re excited to see our donations in use very soon”  

On receipt, The Turing Trust go through a process of clearing the donated equipment securely to UK government standards before undertaking any refurbishment and repairs needed, and then ship the fully working equipment to recipients in need. Even at end the end of its second life, each device is recycled locally in line with ISO14001. 

“We are delighted to receive this fantastic donation from Symology, which will help us to do so much in the coming months. Thanks to their donation, 1,476 students will be able to learn vital IT skills,” said William Bellinger-Smith, Donations Co-ordinator. 

“Beyond this, the environmental impact from their donation will offset 23 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent of planting 57 trees. The embodied energy savings created are also enough to power 6 UK homes for a year. Thank you so much to the whole team at Symology for making all of this possible.”