Home Computing Initiative offers employees low-cost PCs
Howard Lake | 20 April 2004 | News
The Government’s Home Computing Initiative lets employers buy PCs to loan to employees for home use at savings of up to 45%.
While the scheme won’t mean charities themselves can acquire low-cost PCs, it could help them develop a more IT-skilled workforce.
The scheme is supported by Microsoft, BT and Intel, and was relaunched at the end of 2003.
Advertisement
The Royal London Society for the Blind (RLSB) is one charity that has offered the scheme to its employees. With a wide range of employees in both administration and manufacturing, RLSB wanted to boost the IT literacy and overall professional skills of its workforce. The charity selected Red PC as a supplier which could identify equipment that was suitable for its employees and offer appropriate technical support to them. It then set up the salary sacrifice mechanism so that all financing costs were taken into account by the amount of the employees’ contributions. As a result the scheme has the added benefit of reducing the charity’s tax and National Insurance costs.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.