A KIND-HEARTED boss has collected 74 laptops to be given to Ukrainian women and children who are currently displaced in Poland.

The collection will allow families to access remote education after fleeing their homes earlier this year due to the Russian invasion.

Peter Boolkah, 51, is a business coach in Colchester. He set up the Laptops 4 Livelihoods campaign, distributing them with the aid of charity worker Faye Savage.

The second-hand laptops have been given to two charities. 

The laptops have been given to International Bund Polska and the Slaciv Mission in Poland, which is currently accommodating 3,500 displaced Ukrainian women and children.

The laptops will prove to be crucial as they will allow children  access to online learning as well as helping adults to work remotely and learn Polish.

Peter believed it was clear Colchester could aid the women and children of Ukraine, helping them move forward and start new lives.

On his charity work, he said: “The women need to earn money to support their families and the children need to continue to learn - we know how much we relied on technology during the pandemic.

“The war is not ending any time soon and we must continue to look at what the refugees need. Laptops 4 Livelihoods is all about rebuilding people’s lives.”

Charity worker Faye Savage was originally from Bristol and now living in Krakow.

She said: “Many left in a hurry and couldn’t bring laptops with them. They left behind jobs and the children left behind their schooling.

“The children are still being taught remotely from teachers either still inside Ukraine or in Poland so there is a desperate need for more laptops.”

At the end of September, Peter will be going over to Poland to visit the women and children benefitting from the laptops whilst taking more over with him to help more families.

Laptops can currently be received by post, or drop in at the Shoulder of Mutton pub, on Halstead Road, Aldham, CO6 3LL.

All laptops received are being professionally cleared of data, without it being accessed, by Halstead company Secure IT.

For more information and to help out, visit bit.ly/3cWiKjt.