​LONDON HOMELESS BENEFIT FROM RECYCLED LAPTOPS

London, England – The Camden Spectrum Centre hosted a “Laptops For Homeless Initiative" handover last month, providing 10 individuals on homelessness services with refurbished laptop computers in one of many upcoming events.

Recipients of the recycled laptops by SocialBox.Biz's “Laptops for Homeless Initiative" are registered with homelessness services and in accommodation already.

An initiative launched by SocialBox.Biz, a social enterprise company specializing in recycling and groundbreaking storage solutions for businesses in partnership with the homelessness charity Thames Reach.

“Thousands of disenfranchised members of society are cut out from the job market by having no access to electronics or Internet," said Peter Paduh, SocialBox.Biz Chairman. “How can we expect the homeless to work past their situation when they have no ability to apply for jobs or learn new skills and trades? Our Laptops For Homeless Initiative was launched to provide the UK's homeless with a chance to rejoin society and step out of the shadows."

Charity Thames Reach performs a number of homeless services including street outreach for the homeless sleeping on the streets, a variety of hostels and supported housing projects, and skill development to help them get back to work.

Jeremy Swain, Chief Executive of Thames Reach, said: “These computers will give the homeless and marginalised people who receive them the opportunity to communicate with friends and relatives, develop new interests and improve access to advice to improve their skills and employment prospects."

The scheme aims to tackle homelessness via 'digital inclusion' – the access to computers and the internet that many take for granted but from which homeless people will also benefit.

Camden Deputy Leader Patricia Callaghan attended the event to hand over the refurbished laptops, along with Socialbox.biz Chairman Peter Paduh, and Thames Reach Chief Executive Jeremy Swain.

Camden Deputy Leader Councillor Patricia Callaghan said:

Too many people do not have a home that is decent, affordable and secure. Government benefit cuts and changes to the way charities are funded are causing sharp increases in homelessness and rough sleeping.

Despite Camden's financial challenge and severe cuts to our funding from this Central Government, preventing homelessness continues to be a priority for Camden and we will continue to invest in these services.

It was a pleasure to hand over disused laptops on behalf of Camden to individuals registered with homelessness services , which will help them get "online." We are proud to be able to provide assistance to people who have experienced hardship and are dedicated to getting their lives back on track.

For more information on SocialBox.Biz's initiative, or to follow their “Laptops for Homeless Initiative" progress, visit: https://www.socialbox.biz/.

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Some facts Behind Homelessness in London And How AccessnTo Technology Can Help

Local agencies are reporting that 7,581 people slept rough in London throughout 2014/15 - which is a 16 % rise on the previous year, and more than double 2009/10 figure.

So about 7,500 people currently sleep on the streets of London. Their backgrounds, religions, ages, and races cover every category. Even more heartbreaking, many of them want to find work, but have no way to access the digital world of today.

Homelessness could happen to anyone. Most of the time, these individuals did not choose homelessness – rather, a catastrophic event in their lives catapulted them toward living on the streets. These individuals are 13 times more likely to be victims of violent crime, and 47 times more likely to be victims of theft. There needs to be a ladder for these disenfranchised members of society to climb.

Computers are a vital resource to survival today. Without access to one, you are as good as forgotten. An estimated two million working laptops and computers are scrapped in the UK every single year. These precious devices need to be recycled and given to unemployed, homeless people eager to rejoin society.

That's where SocialBox.Biz comes into the picture. A socially focused company that recently launched a “Laptops for Homeless Support Initiative," SocialBox.Biz is closing the gap between wasted resources and people in need. Their business model is focused on social impact over profit gains, and they are working hard to recycle redundant IT hardware and providing training to disadvantage people.

About 112,330 households in England, 14,160 households in Wales, and 35,000 households in Scotland applied for homelessness assistance from 2014-2015. That is a massive amount of people unable to provide for their families let alone purchase a laptop. Obtaining computers is vital to the survival of their relevance in today's workforce.

Barely any companies today accept paper resumes. Everything is electronic. Updates, information, tools, and resources to making a profit are all available on the Internet. SocialBox.Biz realized this and are working hard to improve the lives of thousands. More businesses should follow their example and set aside profit gains for helping the starving individuals sleeping on the cold streets.

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Notes to editors

SocialBox.biz recently launched their Guide to ISO26000 Social Responsibility standard. The company is busy developing new ways to ensure all redundant corporate laptops are collected and used to the fullest of their abilities. A team of dedicated IT professionals with a passion for compassion, SocialBox.Biz will continue to research methods for even greater corporate electronic collection, helping corporations and businesses across the UK improve their Social Corporate Responsibility while helping the homeless.

SocialBox.biz prides itself on being the solution for corporate and community needs by providing a win-win-win solution where firms are reducing costs of storage. Moving some of their processes and data to the cloud, boosting their CSR, and having an overall positive impact on community and society through recycling old computers, servers and other office equipment they no longer need are all ways the cloud-based service makes business operations easier. Such items are needed by many organisations and individuals in the community and are also able to provide training and employment opportunities. Through SocialBox.biz, corporations can

arrange to have their old laptops other items donated to a cause of their choice, or a cause picked by SocialBox.biz on the company's behalf.

The systems of SocialBox.biz are developed around Lean and Six Sigma Methodology and SocialBox.biz re-interprets the Six Sigma waste reduction model as well.

SocialBox.biz recently launched its Guide to ISO26000 Social Responsibility standard. To receive a copy, visit

https://www.socialbox.biz/?p=682

SocialBox.biz provides all of its digital storage services through the Cloud and is consistent with ISO 27001 for data security. For more information on SocialBox.biz, visit: https://www.socialbox.biz

SocialBox.biz is the trading name of SocialBox.biz Trading Enterprises Limited.

For more information, please contact:

Peter Paduh or Simon Paul on 0843 289 5722

View our web site at: http://www.socialbox.biz

email: info(at)socialbox.biz

Thames Reach is one of the UK's leading homelessness charities. Its vision is to end street homelessness and its mission is to provide decent homes, encourage supportive relationships and help people lead fulfilling lives.

Thames Reach runs a range of services in London including street outreach services helping people sleeping rough escape homelessness, a variety of hostels and supported housing projects, and schemes which prevent homelessness and help people develop new skills, re-engage with family and friends, and get back into work.

Thames Reach works closely with local communities to ensure that it contributes to improving neighbourhoods and meeting local need.

It runs the Spectrum Centre in Camden which is dedicated to helping Camden's homeless people.

See www.thamesreach.org.uk

For further details contact Thames Reach communications manager, Mike Nicholas, on 0203 664 9562