Smyths Toy Superstore
The e-Learning Foundation was picked as the chosen charity of Smyths Toys in 2008. Based in Galway, Ireland the company wanted to support an educational IT charity and made a donation to the e-Learning Foundation of £10,000 to help provide our staff to provide free advice and support to schools up and down the UK.
The donation will also help the Foundation to support many more e-learning projects in UK schools helping even more children to overcome the digital divide and not lose out on their studies. Despite living in a digital age, an astonishing 1.6 million children in the UK cannot access a computer or the Internet at home, and as a result, are falling behind in their studies. Many of these children also come from single parent households as well, many of whom live in deprived communities.
"Having personal access to a computer and the Internet at home not only supports children in their studies and personal development, but also engages the wider family," commented Barry Doherty, Marketing Manager at Smyths Toys. "As specialists in educational and creative toys we put a high value on innovation in learning. We are therefore delighted in being able to support the e-Learning Foundation in its invaluable work in erasing the digital divide ."
Valerie Thompson, Chief Executive of the e-Learning Foundation added that, "Increasingly, low income families are finding themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide and many children in the UK, through no fault of their own, are being hobbled in their future development through lack of IT access for their studies."