The city council is urging businesses and residents to help their drive to provide laptops to all schoolchildren.

Oxford City Council has just provided a further 70 pre-owned laptops to help children in the city learn online.

This is in addition to 50 donated to an Oxford school earlier in the year, bringing the total so far to 120.

The council aims to donate 260 pre-used council laptops to Oxford children over the next three months.

The Getting Oxfordshire Online project, initiated by Oxfordshire Community Foundation, focusses on children from deprived families who need help with their online studies.

As part of the project, pre-owned laptops will also be donated to Afghan refugee families recently arrived in the city.

Getting online will be essential for them to find work, to deal with government admin, to access education and healthcare as well as keeping in touch with home.

Refurbishing the 260 laptops will also save 88.93 tonnes of carbon compared to buying new, which is equivalent to 19 cars driving for a year or planting 1,470 trees.

Councillor Shaista Aziz, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Communities, said: “Oxford has areas of significant deprivation, with 10 neighbourhoods falling into the 20 per cent most deprived in England. Lack of technology creates very unequal access to education for pupils from these backgrounds. These laptops give them the opportunities in life they deserve.

“We are very proud of this fantastic initiative. The getting Oxfordshire Online supports our communities with digital inclusion and new skills as well as helping the environment. If you have an unused laptop – whether you are in business, in education or a resident - you can be part of it!”

Rob Pavey is head of Cheney School which will be receiving some of the devices.

He said: “There is still a significant need to ensure all children have access to online learning; the pandemic isn’t over, and there is still disruption to lessons, which is likely to be with us for the foreseeable future.

"The refurbished laptops will help bridge the gap and ensure that disruption is minimised. The long-term benefit of getting a device into the hands of a child now will be felt for years to come.”

Adrian Sell, CEO, Oxfordshire Community Foundation added that as well as helping people as schools return, the project will also reduce waste and help develop the skills of local people who are doing the refurbishment work.

If you can help, go to www.gettingoxfordshireonline.org