Donate Laptops, Computers & Phones to Africa
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Your old laptops could be somebody’s first computer
Most UK businesses replace IT every three years or so, and disposing of the old kit is a cost. In Nigeria and Ghana, a working laptop is the difference between a young person learning digital skills and not. We ship into West Africa every week — we’ll cover the freight and customs.
Wiping your devices properly
The single reason most old IT gets shredded rather than reused is fear about data. That fear is reasonable — and entirely solvable.
Sign out of every account first
This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that matters most. Sign out of Apple ID, Google, Microsoft and any device-tracking service before you reset. Turn off Find My iPhone and Find My Mac.
Skip it and the device locks itself to your account permanently. A donated iPhone still tied to an Apple ID, or an Android still under Google’s factory reset protection, is a paperweight nobody can unlock — not us, not the recipient, not the manufacturer.
Remove SIM cards and storage cards
SIMs, microSD cards, and anything in a card reader slot. They’re easy to forget and they carry data. Take them out and keep them.
Do a full factory reset
Windows: Settings › System › Recovery › Reset this PC, choose Remove everything, then select the option to clean the drive rather than just remove files.
Mac: System Settings › General › Transfer or Reset › Erase All Content and Settings on newer machines; on older ones, erase the drive in Disk Utility and reinstall macOS.
iPhone / iPad: Settings › General › Transfer or Reset › Erase All Content and Settings.
Android: Settings › System › Reset › Factory data reset. Remove the Google account first.
For business data, go further
If devices held customer, employee, financial or otherwise sensitive data, a factory reset alone may not satisfy your own policy or your obligations under UK data protection law. Options include certified data erasure to a recognised standard with an erasure certificate, or removing and physically destroying the drives before donating the rest of the machine.
Talk to us before you commit to a route — a machine donated without its drive is still genuinely useful, and often the simplest answer for a security-conscious IT team.
Include the charger
Not a data point, but the practical one everyone forgets. A laptop without its power supply is very hard to match up later, and a charger costs almost nothing to include now.
You wipe it. We ship it.
Please wipe every device before it leaves you. Wigmore Trading is a logistics company — we don’t operate a certified data destruction facility, and we won’t claim to. Responsibility for the data on a device you donate remains yours, which is exactly why we set out the steps above rather than asking you to trust us with it.
For business donations, we’ll agree the data handling approach with you in writing before anything moves, including whether you erase to a certified standard yourself, use a specialist, or simply remove the drives. Nothing ships until you’re satisfied.
Turn a disposal cost into something useful
Retiring IT is usually a line item you pay to make disappear. This is the alternative.
What we’ll sort out with you
- Collection — for meaningful volumes we can usually collect rather than have you arrange carriage
- Data handling agreed in writing — your erasure standard, your evidence requirements, before anything moves
- An itemised record of what was handed over, so it closes out cleanly in your asset register
- Confirmation of where it went — useful for your own reporting, and it’s a good story internally
- Honest triage — we’ll tell you what’s genuinely usable and what should go to a licensed recycler instead
On WEEE and the waste hierarchy: reuse sits above recycling for good reason — a working machine put back into service is a better outcome than one broken down for materials. Anything that isn’t fit for reuse shouldn’t be shipped at all, and we’d rather say so than move a pallet of scrap across a border. Your own WEEE obligations still apply, so check your position before disposing of business assets.
What we can use
Yes please
Working, wiped, and with the charger.
- Laptops — the most useful thing on this list
- Desktops and monitors, especially as complete sets
- Tablets and e-readers
- Smartphones — unlocked, and signed out of all accounts
- Chargers, cables and power supplies — always include them
- Keyboards, mice, webcams and headsets
- Printers, if reasonably current and with a common cartridge
- Networking kit — routers, switches, access points
- Projectors — genuinely valuable for classrooms
Please check with us
Some of these we can use, some we can’t — a quick message saves everyone effort.
- Devices that don’t power on or have significant faults
- Anything still locked to an Apple ID, Google or Microsoft account
- Carrier-locked phones tied to a UK network
- Swollen or damaged batteries — these can’t be shipped safely
- Cracked screens and physically damaged casings
- Very old equipment that won’t run current software
- Machines missing their charger, if unusual or proprietary
Where to send it
One or two devices, already wiped and with chargers included.
47A High Street
Arlesey
SG15 6SW
Common questions
How do I know my data is safe?
Does Wigmore wipe the devices for us?
Why does signing out of accounts matter so much?
Is old equipment actually useful?
What happens to equipment that can’t be reused?
Can we get documentation for our records?
Is Wigmore Trading a charity?
Donations are collected in the UK in partnership with Shalom Ministries International and distributed in Nigeria and Ghana with local school and community partners. Wigmore Trading Limited is a trading and logistics company, not a registered charity; we do not collect monetary donations and we do not operate a certified data erasure or data destruction facility. Responsibility for removing data from donated devices rests with the donor. Guidance on wiping devices is general information and not legal or data protection advice — organisations should satisfy their own obligations under applicable data protection law and their internal policies before disposing of equipment. Donors remain responsible for their own WEEE and waste-disposal obligations. Devices with damaged or swollen batteries cannot be shipped. Donated goods are given voluntarily and we cannot guarantee a specific recipient for an individual item. Product and company names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Written off here. Working there.
Tell us what you’re retiring and we’ll handle the rest — collection, shipping, customs and delivery.
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