Emmaus South Lambeth
Refurbished Laptops for Emmaus Companions
Emmaus, South Lambeth (SLC), is a charitable organisation in our network that supports people who have experienced homelessness and social exclusion. They provide a home, training, education and meaningful work to their Companions (as their residents are known), supporting them on their journey to regain lost self-esteem and confidence to get back on their feet.
Recently, Emmaus SLC was awarded funding through the Shanley Foundation to access refurbished laptops for their Companions, to improve their education, skillset and digital wellbeing. Iva, their Fundraiser, sourced the refurbished laptops from In Kind Direct.
The first ten laptops were distributed to the Companions in the three homes run by Emmaus SLC to complete training, one laptop will support the Cooking and Confidence course run by Emmaus SLC and the remainder have been kept for Companions to borrow for shared ETE use (Educational Training and Employment).
In addition to undertaking training and completing courses online, Companions will also have access to online services such as NHS access and online banking, further enabling them to support themselves more holistically when they leave Emmaus. The laptops also provide the Companions the opportunity to connect with family and loved ones in other countries via video call, who they may not have seen for a long time.
Ross Watkins, Partnership Manager at Emmaus SLC, commented on the impact the laptops have helped achieve so far:
“Companions have been able to learn in their own time and gain qualifications, improving their online abilities much faster than if they had been in a classroom setting. Thanks to the laptops from In Kind Direct, we have had Companions find work and move out into independent accommodation. Our goal is to support people into transforming their life, we feel like we have gone some way to achieving that”.
Digital inclusion is an essential element of everyday life to enable people to live well, and Emmaus SLC provide a great example of how organisations can use funding to access tech and get their communities online, changing lives in the process.
This partnership to provide refurbished laptops and one year warranty for our network came to an end in 2025. We are proud that in one year alone the initiative saved 78,000 kg of CO2e, the equivalent of taking 700 cars off the road when compared to buying new.
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