Generous Wigan company provides free desks for families home-schooling

The family-run firm realised it was in a position to assist parents when it had surplus boards.

Director Alan Coleman says that when the company took to social media to offer the desks and see what interest there would be they were overwhelmed with responses from grateful parents trying to keep their children learning in very difficult circumstances.

He said the firm was also thinking about supporting the Wigan community as residents spending more time at home due to Covid-19 have been splashing the cash on DIY and sprucing up their houses.

Mr Coleman said: “The home improvement sector has actually done quite well out of lockdown, so we thought we would give a bit back.

“We allocated a couple of days of production to making desks.

“We’ve had people saying they are trying to home-school four kids, all at different stages.

“Some have children split between learning on the sofa and upstairs.

“Some children need their own space to work because the family has really young kids.

“It’s really heart-wrenching, you can just imagine them trying to learn, especially if parents are working from home as well.”

Homestyle Kitchens also did something similar to support families in the borough during the first lockdown last spring.

Most of the recipients were asked to pick the flat pack for their desks up from the company’s showroom, although a couple of volunteers also drove around Wigan getting equipment to families without a car.

The company used leftover materials from its bespoke kitchen manufacturing work to create single-colour desks in a standard size for children to work from.

Although the desks were free, donations were accepted to the Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm).

Mr Coleman said: “I think male mental health is very under-rated. Calm has free webchats and helplines. No-one should be living miserably.”

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