I run a project in London assisting those facing acute hardship. One of the most important things that we endeavour to provide are smartphones (reliant on community donations to this point). We are now a registered charity, and are considering buying phones to help us assist those who sometimes walk across London with paper maps to try and source a phone from us.
We are considering making a dedicated donation campaign (and also seek grant funding) to buy these phones. Having previously had 30x Alcatel phones donated to us, we really don't want to go for those again! Hoping to find something around the £50 mark (new or refurbished) that has a decent screen size, a relatively modern version of Android or iOS (doesn't have to be current) - with decent performance, WhatsApp and access to emails/solid browsing experience to access government services/avoid Universal Credit sanctions being the most important things.
Does anyone have suggestions? We'd rather buy from the UK or Europe (have previously used TechInn for SSD purchases as they have no Brexit related costs!).
Thank you
(We are ready to spend around £1,000 immediately - which will help us to continue providing this important service...with ambitions to do more)
We are considering making a dedicated donation campaign (and also seek grant funding) to buy these phones. Having previously had 30x Alcatel phones donated to us, we really don't want to go for those again! Hoping to find something around the £50 mark (new or refurbished) that has a decent screen size, a relatively modern version of Android or iOS (doesn't have to be current) - with decent performance, WhatsApp and access to emails/solid browsing experience to access government services/avoid Universal Credit sanctions being the most important things.
Does anyone have suggestions? We'd rather buy from the UK or Europe (have previously used TechInn for SSD purchases as they have no Brexit related costs!).
Thank you
(We are ready to spend around £1,000 immediately - which will help us to continue providing this important service...with ambitions to do more)
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sorted byebay.co.uk/itm…561?
ebay.co.uk/itm…168?
(I used to be on this website all the time - but am totally out of the loop now, pretty much since the beginning of the pandemic. Always found HUKD to be very helpful and knowledgable - and pleased to see that this is still the case judging by the responses!)
Good suggestion though
Next, set out your requirements trying your best not to straight jacket yourself with solutions. At the same time do not assume that a smartphone is the answer - that is a solution that may satisfy the requirement but it may not and there may be other solutions.
So try to be very objective, setting down some criteria. I'm a little lost about the reference to reading maps. What exactly is wrong with that? And is it that which you are trying to replace?
A well publicised paper that includes the requirements and criteria spread across local media and social media and also direct to suppliers/manufacturers hopefully will see some beating a path at your door. Don't be afraid to pitch at the national network level also - the EE, Virgin, Vodafones, O2s etc.
There is a charity where I live that gives refurbished laptops and phones to people in need. People donate their old laptops/phones to them and they do the refurb. They have given thousands away. Why not copy that model? see their website wiltshiredigitaldrive.org/
Good luck. (edited)
We have already shared thousands of laptops, smartphones, tablets, desktops (overhauled and upgraded here where possible with SSD's etc) - alongside clothing, footwear, bedding, essential electricals, kitchenware, prams, bikes, white goods, toys & games and plenty of other things besides. But with people travelling from as far as Manchester (and with the referrals we make to other charities often coming to nought), we really want to start fixing the supply shortage as we can't rely solely on smartphone donations for this service.
I was mentioning the budget here as anything significantly above the £50 or so threshold will be out of reach for us at the kind of scale we need. Whilst I don't often have time to visit HUKD, I do sometimes see deals like the Oppo A13 from GiffGaff at £49 each...so wondered if anyone had some tips and tricks about other places that offer similar things (whether email alerts or something)
(We are sadly having to support an increasing number of people who have been sanctioned by Universal Credit due to their inability to respond to journal messages in a timely manner. Those visiting us invariably rely on using other people's phones to access such things, or in most instances, on the local library. Smartphones are the most enabling solution for such people - and also opens up other avenues of support/searching for work etc)