The Access Foundation has approved a grant of £3550 and is providing 20 laptops to Hackney based charity, Youth on the Move.

Founded in February 2016, the charity runs after school clubs and other extra programs for 270 disadvantaged young people aged 11 – 16 years from London's boroughs of Hackney and Haringey, which are among some of the most deprived areas in England.

Most of these young people are living in overcrowded housing, with poverty rampant, and they have had few opportunities for constructive leisure opportunities, or a chance to be recognised.

Youth on the Move was established to help underprivileged, disadvantaged and socially isolated young people from BAME communities and offers a wide range of services to help these young people to break free from the vicious cycle of poverty, unemployment and low aspirations.

The grant from the Access Foundation will support the charity’s ‘Compuskills’ IT course which teaches young people fundamental computer skills, helping them to develop the IT skills they need to learn and find employment.

This programme encourages young people to partner with others, and boosts confidence and self-esteem encouraging them to believe they can achieve in life despite their challenging circumstances.

Most of the young people do not own the necessary software to practice and learn basic skills so the laptops donated by The Access Foundation will ensure that these young people can prepare for course activities and practice the skills they have learnt.

“We can finally provide the young people with the much -needed laptops, and we know we will be seeing only positive results in the next few weeks... Thank you for bridging the digital divide for the young people in Hackney!”

The Youth on the Move team have expressed a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to The Access Foundation for creating a positive change on the Compuskills project and said.

“We can finally provide the young people with the much -needed laptops, and we know we will be seeing only positive results in the next few weeks. When the young people display faces of delight and they hold their head a bit taller, we know all the credit goes to you! Thank you for bridging the digital divide for the young people in Hackney!”