Shipston man launches 'Leave no student behind' campaign to help provide laptops for local school children

A Shipston man has launched a mission to help provide 20 laptops for children at Shipston Primary to use during their 'at home' learning in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Rich Hale launched the fundraising campaign called 'Leave no student behind' through a GoFundMe web page late last week.

Mr Hale, who serves as a lecturer of digital forensics at Birmingham City University and lives in Shipston, said:"I set myself missions throughout the year to 'pay it forward' as I have been fortunate in my life to have had support from others."

He has so far raised £1,160 towards a £2,000 target.

Rich Hale launched the fundraising campaign called 'Leave no student behind' to help provide laptops to children in Shipston.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the 'Leave no student behind' campaign can use the following web link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/leave-no-student-behindMr Hale added: "I saw a segment on the BBC Breakfast news regarding pupils not having access to laptops, and in some cases having to try and do school work using a parent's mobile phone.

"As a university lecturer I know how online teaching is challenging from both sides if a student does not have access to the right equipment. I wanted to do my part for my local community.

"As my birthday is on the 17th, I thought why not and set myself a 10-day challenge by asking family and friends to make a contribution so I could purchase a laptop for my local primary school rather than give me gifts – I’m sure I can miss birthday gifts this year.

"I contacted the local primary school (Shipston Primary School) and they were delighted with the offer."

But Mr Hale took it a step further from a birthday challenge and decided to expand his campaign to try and reach a fundraising target of £1,000 by the end of January. A £1,000 target enabled him to buy five more laptops for the school.

He reached the £1,000 target within 48 hours of launching the campaign, and several new laptop computers have already been delivered to Shipston Primary School.

He added: "I was amazed at the generosity of the community and also those not in my community. I have received donations from London and Northern Ireland."

On Sunday Mr Hale was contacted by a local business owner, John Southall, the owner of Classic Driving Development based in the Shipston area. He offered his support by pledging to donate £1000 to the campaign and said it was 'important to invest in the future of these children.'

Mr Hale added: "This now means five more laptops will be available to pupils who desperately need them. It would be great if I could get more local companies to donate as I’m sure many of their children have attended the primary school.

"This brings the total laptops that will be supplied to 11 so far which is amazing and will make such a huge difference to the learning journey of these pupils. Ultimately, I’d like to be able to supply 20 in total so that no pupil is left out."