The Reconnect Project

As a charity, we are financially supported by a number of philanthropic foundations who recognise our value. With thanks to Sisters of Charity Foundation and Sydney Community Foundation last financial year we provided high quality, fully refurbished laptops to 94 disadvantaged high school students and women fleeing DV. Every laptop we distribute has a new battery installed, updated software and has been thoroughly cleaned and tested by our technicians.

Everything we do reflects our values and mission: to close the digital divide, stop usable tech from going to e-waste and provide training and employment opportunities for young adults. 😊

Attention Northsiders, we have a new, handily located donation box for you to drop off your preloved mobile devices thanks to Tim James MP. You can pop in to his office during business hours Monday to Friday located at Shop 26, 145 Sailors Bay Rd, Northbridge.

As we roll over to a new financial year it’s time for us to reflect on what we have achieved. Winning awards and launching our training program are significant milestones we’ve already celebrated.

What underpins everything we do is our mission to close Australia’s digital divide by distributing refurbished, high quality tech to people in need.

We’re proud to report our stats for the 23/24FY……

Happy World Environment Day.

What better time to brush up on the Expanded Waste Hierarchy diagram (courtesy of BehaviourWorks Australia) to see how to reduce our negative impact on the environment and keep valuable and reusable resources out of landfill. While avoidance and redesign are the ultimate goal, Reuse & Repair are the next best thing... and what we at The Reconnect Project are all about.

We commend all councils, businesses and individuals doing their part to help divert items out of the "waste" stream and use them as a resource, be that turning a doona cover into a dress; composting your food scraps and using the nutrient rich soil product to grow more food; converting old building timbers into a beautiful custom kitchen bench; or in our case repairing and refurbishing donated phones, tablets and laptops to extend their life, give them to people in need. and training the next generation of tech repairers in the process.

A shoutout to some of our supporters, mates and social enterprise colleagues doing an awesome job of waste prevention in their fields: Among the Trees Pty Ltd, Reverse Garbage, Circle Paints, PlateitForward, OzHarvest, Compost Revolution, Costa Georgiadis Official, Re Place - Inner West , Blacktown City Council, Randwick City Council Street Bounty - Australia, Good360 Australia, Georges River Council, Inner West Council, BOWER Reuse & Repair Centre, Sutherland Shire Council

Congratulations to the inaugural trainees of The Reconnect Project's Mobile Device Repair Technician training program. We celebrated this milestone last Wednesday with graduates and their families, our key funders The Ian Potter Foundation, Ian and Shirley Norman Foundation, Impact100 Sydney and Julia Limb, local MP Mark Coure MP and representatives from the local community, businesses and corporate supporters including Blancco Technology Group and Click and Connect.

Our trainees have been gifted their own set of tools with thanks to EMPR Australia and practice their repair skills on devices donated by HMD Australia and Renewable Mobile Group. They practiced using workbenches built for us by St George Men's Shed.

Catering for the evening was supplied by Civic Disability Services kitchen in Engadine and we enjoyed the delicious, refreshing LemonAid from OzHarvest.

We are so proud of our trainees and feel privileged to have spent the past 3 months with these delightful young people, sharing our dedication to keeping mobile phones in operation through repair and reuse. With the help of our trainees, we can continue distributing quality refurbished mobile devices to people in need and closing Australia's digital divide.





(photo credits: thank you Vanessa Gauchi from Autism Community Network and Corinne Kemp from Impact100 Sydney)

Hey Eastsiders, it’s now easier to donate your phones, tablets and laptops to us than ever. Thanks to Randwick City Council we have just rolled out donation boxes in six handy locations.

1. Randwick council Admin at 30 Frances St Randwick
2. Randwick Library – 73 Belmore rd Randwick
3. Maroubra Library – 669 Anzac Pde Maroubra
4. Des Renford Centre- Jersey Rd Maroubra
5. Malabar Library – 1203 Anzac Pde Matraville
6. Randwick Recycling Centre- 72 Parry Street Matraville

We've distributed 250 devices this year, bringing our total count to 2,527.

Thanks to our device donors for keeping the devices coming, to our funders for helping us to purchase spare parts and to the Caseworkers at the 130+ social service agencies who use our service to provide the refurbished tech to their clients.

Natasha from Blacktown City Council's Sustainability team dropped off a box of phones and tablets to us this week. Blacktown City Council now divert all their decommissioned staff devices to us and are great supporters of our initiative because we prioritise repair and reuse above recycling. These devices will now be securely erased and repaired by our technicians, ready for finding new life providing connectivity to a person in need.

The great folk at 2SER Sydney radio interviewed our Founder, Annette, following our recent win at the National Banksia Sustainability Awards. Thanks .3 for sharing in our celebrations!

How Sydney's Second-Hand Tech is Building New Futures - 2SER The Reconnect Project is not just another recycling program; it's a lifeline for those on the wrong side of the digital divide. This innovative social enterprise has found a way to breathe new life into old devices, providing essential technology to those in need.

We’ve been recognised for our impact at the National Banksia Sustainability Awards: winner of the Circular Economy category.

Everything we do at The Reconnect Project is impact-driven and this award recognises our dedication in the areas of environment, social justice and inclusive employment.

We are so proud!!

Today marks the final day of the technical skills component for our first Mobile Device Repair Trainees. Over the past 6 weeks, this group of 5 enthusiastic young people have been introduced to basic electronics and soldering, principles of work health & safety, toured an e-waste facility, learnt safe handling of lithium batteries and how to securely erase devices using Blancco software, and the steps involved for mobile phone repairs.

Our Subject Matter Expert, Andy from FMA Parts, has been exceptional in guiding the trainees through the process of a mobile phone 'teardown' (that's tech speak for pulling the whole thing apart) and identifying every tiny screw, small component and the specific tools required for each step.

After a 2 week break, our trainees will be back for the next phase of learning: working in a repair shop alongside colleagues, customer service and retail operations.

The training program has only been made possible because our amazing funders could see the long term social value in investing in our pilot. Thank you to the philanthropy of the Ian & Shirley Norman Foundation, Impact100 Sydney and The Ian Potter Foundation.

PS - it's Neurodiversity Celebration Week this week - and we are certainly celebrating the talents of the neurodivergent young people we support, teach and employ!

Impact100 Sydney
Ian and Shirley Norman Foundation
The Ian Potter Foundation
FMA Parts

Every device that passes through our repair workshop goes through multiple checks to ensure that the recipient gets tech in tip top condition.

The final test box for mobile phones is looking a little sad……we need more donations asap so we can continue closing Australia’s digital divide.

We accept mobile phones in any condition - drop off locations are listed on our website, you can post them t us or for bulk donations from businesses and corporate partners we will arrange a collection.

BREAKING NEWS: The Reconnect Project has just been announced as a FINALIST in the National Banksia Sustainability Awards for the Circular Economy category. We took out the NSW Sustainability Award late last year......but to take out the national award would really highlight the importance of REPAIR in the circular economy.

A properly functioning circular economy needs items to be reused over and over again. Repair and refurbishment ensures this happens, as well as providing jobs and economic input through the repair industry. Recycling has a place in the circular economy, but shredding technology to extract metals and plastics should be the last course of action.

Winners are announced on 4th April.






Banksia Foundation

Thank you to the kind folk of the Sutherland Shire who filled up our donation box at Sutherland Shire Council customer service centre 💙💚

This laptop came to us from Melbourne. Thank you for helping us to close Australia’s digital divide and keeping working laptops out of ewaste.

The numbers are in. Throughout 2023, we distributed 728 devices to people in need. That's 728 people who now have access to a mobile phone to make calls, do homework on a tablet, or use a laptop for school or TAFE. The tally stands at 2,277 devices distributed since we began in 2020.

We celebrate achieving a new milestone - and officially doubling our founding aim - of distributing one device every single day to a person experiencing digital disconnection.

Thank you for supporting us - through using our repair shopfront for device repairs, for donating your old devices to us and for financially contributing through tax deductible donations.

Special thanks to Sydney Community Foundation, The Honig Foundation, Castle Hill RSL, Cumberland City Council, Walter & Eliza Hall Trust and the Sisters of Charity Foundation for supporting us financially in 2023. The financial contributions from these organisations means we can purchase spare parts needed to bring donated devices back to life and provide employment for three neurodivergent young adults, giving them skills and experience in device repairs.

Super excited to announce The Reconnect Project as the NSW Sustainability Award winner for Circular Economy.

The judges recognised the multi-dimensional impact we have - in reducing e-waste (environmental), closing the digital divide (social) and supporting neurodivergent young adults who are interested in pursuing a career in tech repair (employment pathways).

Thank you Banksia Foundation and NSW Government for acknowledging the achievements of our small, enthusiastic team 🏆🎉

From January to October this year, we've helped 592 people (re)connect with family, friends, education and essential services by providing them with quality, refurbished technology.

In order to keep sending out devices to people in need, we require an incoming flow of donations. Please continue to spread the word about The Reconnect Project and help us to continue closing Australia's digital divide.

Our repair shop fixes more than mobile phones. This KitchenAid needed a service. We gave it a Test & Tag to make sure it’s safe and ready to make plenty more cakes 🎂

Need a Test & Tag for an appliance? By using The Reconnect Project you’re helping us provide employment to a young person and give them skills for the future.

Happy World Social Enterprise Day. On this day we would like to acknowledge all of the individuals and businesses that support us in our mission to close the digital divide and lessen e-waste through and and training up a new generation of repairers.

Collecting the latest tranche of mobile phone donations from Colonial First State this week with many thanks to Senior Manager Shafei Kastl & Head of IT Mark Winfield.

Woohoo!!!

We are a FINALIST in the 2023 NSW Sustainability Awards for Circular Economy. Repair and reuse are crucial for a truly circular economy - keeping mobile devices functioning and uses less energy and is more cost effective than 'downcycling' via e-waste into raw materials to be reprocessed into new products.

The Reconnect Project is an outstanding example (if we do say so ourselves) of the circular economy in action. Fingers crossed for the award announcement on 7th December!

Be a part of Australia's first social enterprise run mobile device repair shopfront and help us keep smart devices working for people in need!

We are seeking a Senior Technician to work on all the tricky stuff - motherboard repairs, microsoldering small components and diagnosing circuitry faults. This is a part-time position of 16 hours per week but if the right candidate also meets the requirements for our Workshop Supervisor role then it could be combined into one full-time position.

Information about the role and how to apply can be found here:
https://thereconnectproject.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Senior-Repair-Technician.pdf

We are hiring!

Are you someone who gets a kick out of making a positive difference, and who relishes contributing to innovative projects that spearhead change? We are seeking a Workshop Supervisor to oversee our growing number of junior technicians and support them on their career journey as mobile device repair technicians.

Ideally you'd have experience in a supervisory capacity and possess technical skills for repairing mobile devices, small electronics or ICT. Experience mentoring neurodivergent young adults a definite advantage.

This is a permanent, part-time position of 24 - 32 hours per week to be negotiated with the right candidate.

Full position details and how to apply can be found here: https://rb.gy/2lzk9z

Thank you Nokia Australia for the donation of chargers, cables and headsets. For safety reasons, we don’t use secondhand chargers and cables for mobile phones and tablets when we’re sending devices to people in need. It costs us around $10 per device to provide brand new charging accessories and that adds up quickly when we’re distributing hundreds of devices.

We try not to play favourites with different brands but……Nokia…...we 💙 you 😁🙏

Thank you to the team from Bravura Solutions who visited us recently and brought a boot load of laptops - and chargers!

Requests for laptops increase in term 4 as Caseworkers at agencies such as Barnardos ensure disadvantaged high school students have what they need for the next year.

Got a mobile phone, tablet or laptop that you no longer need? Donate it to us at one of our drop-off locations, by post, or we can arrange a collection for bulk donations.

Excited to announce that The Reconnect Project is growing! With thanks to The Ian Potter Foundation, we are setting up our mobile device repair training centre in preparation for the first intake of students in November.

In the words of Urban Cookie Collective, we’re dancing our way in to the long weekend…..

🎶 I’ve got the key, I’ve got the secret
I’ve got the key, to another way 🎶

When we talk about tinkerers and repairers, people often think of their grandfathers with sheds of tools and projects. How great is it that our young tech Wilbur confidently replaced the battery in his grandfather’s iPhone 11 yesterday!!

We’re training a new generation of repairers and encouraging young people to tinker with electronics. Details about the first intake of our Mobile Device Repair Technician training course coming very very soon.