Almost a hundred iPads have been distributed to primary schools across County Roscommon, in Ireland, in an initiative designed to give children additional support in their education. The upcycled iPads are being given to special needs assistants in Primary Schools to help them in their teaching and support work with pupils.
The donation has been facilitated by Ballymore Chairman and Chief Executive Sean Mulryan and Variety, the Children’s Charity of Ireland, as part of a commitment to promoting equal access to education. Kevin O’Brien, Head of Marketing and Fundraising at Variety, says, “Variety Ireland relies on donors like Sean Mulryan of Ballymore to help us deliver projects that directly benefit children who may need that extra bit of support with learning in the classroom. As a society we need to protect and help our most vulnerable and in doing so we also need to protect the environment. These upcycled iPads do just that”.
The donation of iPads follows on from an initiative last year that saw all 7,500 national school children in Roscommon given a tree to plant in their garden. In recognition of his work, Mulryan has been named the first recipient of Variety Ireland’s Environmental Award. He says, “Supplying upcycled iPads to help special needs assistants is a fantastic idea that will have a big impact on the education of children who may need that little bit more help with their learning. Both our iPad and tree initiatives are designed to help children and spark young people’s curiosity.”