Scotland Tonight: Refurbished laptops from Scotland keeping education alive for Ukrainian children

A small Scottish charity has become one of Ukraine’s biggest donors of technology.

West Lothian-based Reusing IT is sending thousands of refurbished laptops to help children continue their education as schools are destroyed in the country’s ongoing war with Russia.

The charity’s founder, Ross Cockburn, has also participated in the country’s Unbreakable Education programme.

He said: “They asked us to get involved in the Unbreakable Education Project, which is making sure every child in the east is able to carry on their education, even though there’s drones and cruise missiles flying about overhead.

“They want to make sure that they are not the lost generation because those kids are the kids that are going to have to rebuild the country.”

For more than three years, images of devastation from Ukraine have shown homes, schools and workplaces destroyed by drone strikes, with millions of people forced to flee.

Families have been forced to adapt and children are continuing their education in unconventional ways.

After Google, UNICEF and Hewlett Packard, Reusing IT is now Ukraine’s biggest donor of technology and is playing a major role in helping kids to learn in safety.

Ross makes several trips a year to deliver the computers, which have been donated by individuals, health boards, independent schools and universities.

“The more we go, the more we realise that the need has increased, because more schools have been destroyed,” he told STV News.

“And as a school gets destroyed and there isn’t a bomb shelter for that school, then more children have to homeschool.

“So we just keep looking for devices, because I never thought I would say this, but that laptop actually keeps a child alive, because that laptop means that they’re at home, they’re not in a school, and they’re being educated.”

A small team of volunteers, ranging from teenagers to people in their 80s, processes dozens of devices every day from a warehouse on an industrial estate.

Inmates at HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow are also playing a vital role in refurbishing equipment.

A workshop has been set up inside Scotland’s largest prison, where prisoners help prepare keyboards, mice, monitors and cables for shipment.

The initiative was set up by prison officer David Sneddon, who works closely with Ross.

“Obviously, logistically in a prison, there are certain things that we can’t do,” said Sneddon.

“We’ve got to think about data transfer and things like that. So we have started off with all the peripheral things of our PCs, so we have no internet connection, and the guys don’t get access to any actual PC hard drives and things like that.

“We are working on all the keyboards, mice, monitors, all the cables and helping Ross maximise what you can send over to Ukraine.”

Ross says the support from prisoners has been crucial.

“Some of them have said to me ‘this is one of the best things I’ve done in my life’ and I find that quite humbling,” explained Ross.

“We have a lot of respect and love for what we’re getting out of Barlinnie, and we couldn’t do without it.”