A number of not-for-profit organizations will receive a helping hand to following the donation of 30 second hand computers by the Greater Building Society to Wesley Mission Newcastle.

The computers will be refurbished by Wesley Uniting Employment's Work for the Dole (WFD) Computer E-Recycling Program and then passed on to local organisations.

Greater Building Society learned of Wesley Mission's need for second hand computers when CEO, Don Magin, met with Wesley Mission's new Newcastle Regional Manager, Brian Kennaugh. The Greater had just completed a major upgrade to its computer systems and was able to donate the computers that were being replaced.

Greater CEO, Don Magin, said the Greater is a long time supporter of Wesley Mission. The Greater has supported Wesley Mission's Homes For Hope project and its Christmas hamper collections. It has printed some of its brochures and materials as well as donated computers to Wesley's Schools for Seniors Program on the Central Coast. The Greater currently supports Wesley's suicide prevention program for rural and regional areas, LifeForce.

"The Greater is proud to support Wesley because it does a magnificent job in helping many people in the Hunter community," Mr Magin said.

"It is important for businesses to give back to the community and this is a practical and environmentally responsible way to do that. We do our best to support the communities in which we operate," he said.

Mr Kennaugh said the WFD scheme aims to give practical skills to long term unemployed people to better prepare them for entering the work force. Participants in the computer recycling teams are trained in various aspects of computer building and refurbishment. They learn how to strip a PC of all its components, rebuild it, install software, and conduct basic trouble shooting.

“Once the computers are successfully rebuilt they are donated to other needy organisations including high schools, Centrelink offices, counselling services, disability services and historical societies,” Mr Kennaugh said.

“It's a win-win situation, with local people gaining valuable skills training and organisations receiving infrastructure to help them get on with the business of helping others,” he said.

He said the WFD program has been successfully running in the Lower Hunter region since October 2003. During that time 600 computers have been refurbished

Since 2001, when the WFD E-recycling computer scheme began, Wesley Mission has refurbished between 500 and 3000 computers per year, depending on donations.

As well as being able to support local organisations Wesley has sent over 500 refurbished computers to education facilities in India and over 300 to Peru.