London, 30th September 2026: A high-impact mentoring programme in London recently received 20 refurbished laptops from Reusing IT, destined to help women from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds to rebuild their aspirations and lives.
The social enterprise Routes [https://routescollective.com/], which delivers the mentoring programme, provides specialised support, helping these women to navigate the UK employment and education landscape. It’s support that prioritises autonomy, giving them confidence and independence to build meaningful careers here.
Routes’ Fundraising Manager Ni Hsieh explains, “At the beginning of the programme, we supply laptops to our mentees if they don’t already have one. It’s then theirs to keep, so we need a continuous supply of devices.” Routes is funded by trust grants as well as corporate partnerships, with some companies paying their employees to mentor. Devices can be one of the harder costs to cover, and with demand outstripping what existing source can provide, Ni was searching for a new supplier when a former mentor put her in touch with Reusing IT this summer. The timing was very fortuitous.
Ross Cockburn, Founder of Reusing IT, says, “We had a stock of suitable laptops from one of our fantastic donors, InnoVent [https://www.innovent.co.uk/] . InnoVent is a tech leasing business with a focus on sustainability and education, so the core values very much align. As with all devices we supply, the laptops were data wiped to UK Government standards, and we set them up ready for Routes to use.” So this donation links three very values-driven organisations.
For some of the women Routes supports, the asylum process is long, arduous and confusing. Many women arrive in the UK ambitious and motivated, but years of waiting can erode aspiration and confidence, which makes it more difficult to seek employment once granted status. General employment support services usually have limited knowledge around refugees’ circumstances, and refugee employment support tends to be designed around the male majority.
“So our flagship mentoring programme is designed to help women rebuild hope, confidence and a professional network,” explains Ni. For those newly granted status, the pressure is immediate. The move-on period (the time between receiving refugee status and Home Office support ending) is currently 42 days. In that time, the individual has to complete all administrative tasks including getting a National Insurance number, opening a bank account, finding permanent accommodation, registering for essential services such as doctors and schools, in addition to being work-ready.
To give flexibility, the mentoring may take place in person, remotely or a combination. So owning a laptop is essential not only for participating in the mentoring programme, but for the huge admin tasks associated with starting a new life, job searching, training or studies.
Routes’ four-month programme carefully matches refugee and asylum-seeking women with a UK-based female professional leader who is their mentor as they navigate the training and employment market. There is a real diversity of circumstances and needs, from entry-level through to professional women whose qualifications may not be recognised in the UK. The matching may be a shared professional language and understanding (for example a woman who was a legal professional in her own country would be paired with another legal professional); the mentor and mentee may be matched through common personal interests, or specialist skills. In each case, the aim is to provide professional insight, build confidence, a network and skill set.
Circumstances can be volatile, which may hinder full participation. Routes mentors are trained to understand what their mentee might be navigating, and the Routes team provides wrap-around support, including travel expenses, childcare, hardship grants, and referral and advocacy through partner organisations. Mentors are equipped with inclusive leadership training, for their own professional development and which they can take back into their own workplace. So mutual learning is built into the programme.
There is a tech day for each mentoring cohort, when women who require a laptop come in to the Routes premises to collect it. Volunteers help to get the device set up and show participants how to use it if necessary. “Reusing IT had already installed the programmes we need, and Ross had generously thrown in some mice too, so it was very easy this time,” says Ni of the autumn 2026 tech day. Mentoring Programme Manager, Tamana Safi adds, “People were very happy when they heard that we will not collect the device from them after the end of the programme and that they can keep it…so that is quite nice and mentees love it.”
Routes run two cohorts per year, aiming to recruit 30 mentees per cohort. Around 20 women per cohort usually need a laptop to participate. Donated devices mean that thanks to the InnoVent/Reusing IT donation, no-one has to miss out on the mentoring opportunity because they can’t get online.
