Technical issues with laptops and software can be a significant challenge for small charities and community groups, particularly when time and resources are limited.
While these organisations often have to juggle multiple priorities, it's important to address tech problems early on, as unresolved issues can have a knock-on effect on the rest of their work and service delivery.
That's why, on Tuesday 24th June 2025, we hosted another Bring Your Own Tech day - this time, for community groups based in the borough of Kingston.
The event was part of our wider Small Charity Week campaign. We appreciate the support from Kingston Mencap, who made it possible for us to use the Searchlight Community Centre as our venue, as well as our colleagues at Kingston Eco-op.
We were joined by attendees from three organisations, each bringing a range of tech issues they were looking to resolve.
Kingston upon Thames Society
John and Mediha from the Kingston upon Thames Society attended the session together, seeking guidance on setting up and using Microsoft 365 effectively.
They were in the early stages of setting up a Microsoft 365 system and had questions around best practices, email integration, and internal collaboration tools.
Our colleague Paul worked with them to introduce Microsoft Teams as a central tool for communication and file sharing. He provided a walkthrough of its core features and how it could support their internal workflows.
While their email systems were still running separately, the session helped clarify next steps for consolidating their digital tools under the M365 platform.
Tech Support Lead Colin also supported John with his Mac, resolving an issue that had been preventing him from accessing his emails.
They found the hands-on support valuable and left with a clearer understanding of how to move forward. We hope to continue supporting them with more in-depth Microsoft 365 training tailored to the needs of their wider team.
Malden Emergency First Aid Society (MEFAS)
Christine from the Malden Emergency First Aid Society sought support with some Microsoft and website-related issues.
She had been unable to download Office 2019 onto a new Windows 11 laptop due to Microsoft no longer accepting Yahoo email addresses.
Although she had transferred the software from her old device, she was hesitant to modify the configuration files.
With help from our colleague Nine, Office 2019 was successfully installed using an external drive.
He also helped Christine register a new domain and linked it to the organisation’s existing e-Voice site.
In addition, she began setting up a Microsoft 365 Business Standard trial, with plans to complete the setup during a follow-up session in early July.
New Malden Partnership
Danielle from the New Malden Partnership attended the session with concerns about her personal laptop.
She had been experiencing slow performance and suspected a possible security issue with her Hotmail account. One recurring problem was that her browser settings kept reverting to Yahoo and Microsoft Edge, despite her efforts to set Chrome and Google as the defaults.
She also mentioned issues with her Google account reporting that storage was full, even after deleting a significant amount of content.
Nine helped confirm that Danielle’s laptop was working properly with the correct power adaptor and assisted with a password reset using O&O software via USB.
Paul then carried out a full clean-up of the laptop, including clearing over 2,000 entries from the browser history and cache. He reactivated McAfee and advised Danielle to run a full system scan.
He also provided guidance on managing multiple Microsoft 365 logins on the same device, which had been causing confusion.
Kingston Eco-op
We also took the opportunity to support our Eco-op colleagues at Kingston Voluntary Action with some of their technical issues and staff training needs.
In the morning, Paul delivered a practical training session for the Eco-op team, covering key topics such as GDPR, data handling, and the use of Microsoft 365 applications. The session aimed to build confidence in using digital tools securely and effectively in day-to-day operations.
Meanwhile, our Tech Support Lead, Colin, looked into several device issues throughout the day, including Wi-Fi problems and laptop performance. He assessed Eco-op client laptops and began converting them to Chromebooks to extend their usability.
Colin also spent time working with a new volunteer to explore a potential ongoing support role.
Upcoming Bring Your Own Tech days
We'll be running more Bring Your Own Tech days in September, December and March.
If you'd like to attend one of these events, keep an eye out on our training page for further information and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated.
