Brixton tablet recycling charity appoints first senior staff

A volunteer-run charity which recycled tablets for children not in school during lockdown has appointed its first senior staff.

Community TechAid (CTA) came together in March 2020 to help bridge the digital divide by collecting unwanted digital devices and refurbishing them for members of the community who would not otherwise be able to obtain them.

Cat Smith joined CTA as chief operating officer, alongside Jim Ottaway as technical operations manager, and Stephanie Charbine as donations and distribution manager.

All three have been volunteering with the charity over the past year and have been key to the success of the charity so far.

They join Justin Hughes, CTA’s transport officer, who was previously the sole employee. As he collects and distributes devices, he has become the face of the charity for many local organisations and recipients across the community.

Linda Heiden, Founder of CTA says; ‘I am delighted that the recruitment of Cat, Jim and Stephanie marks an exciting next step in Community TechAid’s future.

We are immensely proud of what they have helped us all achieve so far, and look forward to being able to provide a new level of service to our community with them at the helm.’

Cat Smith said: ‘I am very much looking forward to starting full time with Community TechAid.

Having been with the charity since last year, and seen our growth over the past 16 months, this is an incredibly exciting next step, and I look forward to continuing our work getting more computers, laptops and mobile phones out to those in need across our community.’

This announcement comes as the charity was awarded grants from the Walcot Foundation and Impact on Urban Health, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation.

Daniel Chapman at the Walcot Foundation said: “Community TechAid has been a fantastic local Lambeth response to the ongoing issue of digital exclusion.

At Walcot Foundation, we  are really pleased to support them as they develop from a volunteer emergency Covid-19 response into a sustainable local charity with long-term plans to tackle Lambeth digital exclusion through providing low-cost/free digital equipment, training and partnership working.”