Huthwaite-based nmcn has donated 36 laptops to two primary schools, helping children to access the right equipment to be home-schooled during the national coronavirus lockdown.

Thirty laptops were given to Forest Town Primary School with another six donated to St Mary Magdalene Primary School, Sutton.

The company said its donation came after Child Poverty Action Group found nationally 40% of children don’t have access to a laptop or the internet while schools are closed.

Claire Gregg, assistant head at Forest Town Primary School, said: “We are a school with a catchment area of high deprivation and since the announcement was made in January to close schools, we found that an awful lot of our families didn’t have a device to effectively access our home learning during this time.

“As a school we used some of our own devices to lend to a few families, but we didn’t have enough resources to support everyone. The donation meant that we could support even more of our children during this incredibly difficult time and try to prevent them from falling behind in their studies.

“Our key worker children attending school will also benefit from the donation.

“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of nmcn, receiving the donation felt like Christmas Day and it has certainly put a smile on our children’s faces.”

Craig Greatorex, head of IT at nmcn said: “When we heard the statistics about the number of children not having the right equipment to do home-schooling properly, we knew we wanted to do something to help those in our local area.

“We hope that our donation will help make things a little easier for local families during this tough time.

“We’ve also donated copies of our children’s book, When I Grow Up, to the schools so children can still enjoy the benefits and escapism of reading while they are at home.”

To request a free copy of When I Grow Up, email [email protected]