Beverley Pinder OAM, Russell Mortimer donate 15 laptops to St John’s Catholic College

A former Melbourne councillor with a deep connection to the NT has given the remote students of a Darwin school a $15k “leg up”. What she donated.

A former Melbourne councillor has donated $15,000 worth of laptops to a Darwin school in an effort to bring equal access to technology and education to the Territory.

Fifteen First Nations students at St John’s Catholic College will each receive a laptop to use for the school’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program thanks to the generosity of Beverley Pinder OAM and her husband, Russell Mortimer.

Ms Pinder said they made the donation so that parents would feel less burdened by exclusion and “give them a bit of a leg up”.

“Our donation is about supporting children who have a strong desire to learn and develop while also honing their capability to become good citizens – at school, in the home and, in their community,” she said.

Beverley Pinder OAM and Russell Mortimer donated 15 laptops to St John’s Catholic College in Darwin.

Ms Pinder said the proposed Voice to Parliament prompted her decision to take action at a grassroots level to support remote communities, which linked to her love of education.

“The action is important – actually do something,” Ms Pinder said.

“It doesn’t need to be the cost of a laptop, it could be just a couple of hundred dollars towards a nutritional meal or a few exercise books and crayons.”

Ms Pinder said 10 of her nieces and nephews – and even some grand-nieces and nephews – had attended the Darwin school, firmly cementing her family’s connection to the college.

She said working with school principal Cameron Hughes narrowed down how best the couple could contribute to the school.

“We had a meeting with (Mr Hughes) and his team, and they presented us with a couple of options as to how we can become involved with students from remote communities, and as my husband has been in IT most of his life, this really appealed to us,” she said.

“Connect with a local school, it doesn’t have to be a Catholic school, and see how and where you can make a donation towards a child’s future.”

St. John’s Catholic College students.

Mr Hughes said he was very grateful for Ms Pinder’s and Mr Mortimer’s donation.

He said Information and Communication Technology was an important part of the Australian Curriculum which meant laptops had become an invaluable part of a student’s learning materials.

“However, the cost of BYOD laptop programs falls to parents or carers,” Mr Hughes said.

“The generous donation aims to improve equity of access to learning technology.”

Mr Hughes said the shiny new laptops had been ordered and would be distributed to students within a few weeks.

Originally published as Beverley Pinder OAM, Russell Mortimer donate 15 laptops to St John’s Catholic College