A Ryedale company has donated IT equipment to a project which supports people on low incomes.

BATA Ltd, based in Amotherby. handed over 30 PC towers and 10 Laptops into the York Community Furniture store who is running a Christmas appeal with IT ReUse.

David Clayton, from the IT Department, said: "We have just completed an upgrade of our store till PCs from Windows 10 to Windows 11 as a hardware refresh to keep up -to-date. The old PCs would have gone for secure disposal and electrical recycling, but we received a flier in the post about the Christmas appeal and thought this would be a good thing to do for the charity, and means we don’t have to dispose of the machines ourselves.

"The computers will still have a year or two life, and we hope they can be of use to the Charity."

A spokesperson for Community Furniture Store, said: “The IT ReUse project is supported by a group of organisations in York who have shared goals in advancing the causes of digital inclusion, environmentalism and reuse. We accept donations of IT equipment from the general public and local businesses, and then through a network of community workers we distribute them to individuals who aren’t able to access essential services and risk getting left behind by the digital divide. We do not charge anything for our services.”

York was the first Community Furniture Store to open back in 1988, and over the last three decades the store has worked hard to build a relationship with the community. It has become the go-to reuse store in York for buying and donating home furnishings. The store accepts used furniture and appliances, complete with a free collection service, and offer them to the community at an affordable price – with a concession price available for those on means-tested benefits.