Community Screenbank This remarkable project, initiated by Meldreth resident Andy Thomas, is now supported by a veritable team of IT and electrical engineering experts. The purpose has been to refurbish unwanted, second-hand computers for Melbourn Village College students lacking the necessary home IT equipment needed for home study. The call out has seen a stream of donations in from far and wide: Meldreth, Melbourn, Shepreth, Foxton, Bassingbourn, Whaddon, Haslingfield, Histon, Cambridge, Barrington, Royston, London, Buntingford, Sandon – and even one from elsewhere in the UK, posted in by someone by the name of Leo! So far, 65 Melbourn Village College students have been provided with the means to carry on with their studies at home and we have some 40 more systems in the pipeline. Our ‘team of experts’ stretches from one end of Meldreth to the other, with sixth former Oliver Sharp working through monitors, keyboards and mice. The team moves sideways out to Burford, yes that’s Burford in the Costwolds, where Andy’s mentor Martin, who is self-isolating, rebuilds laptops that Andy drives over to him. Andy deals with the desktops and maintains an increasingly complex spreadsheet detailing all work in progress, while David Coton continues to PAT test everything to be deployed.
Oliver Sharp and Andy Thomas with the air compressor
Funds that have been raised are being used to purchase some of the bits and pieces needed to complete a piece of work. Part of the fun is finding ways of making do and that allows what has been raised to stretch far. For example, instead of buying aerosol cans of compressed air at £5.99 apiece, Andy has got hold of a repurposed fire extinguisher that provides compressed air (fashioned by his father) and brought to life by a donated car battery. Free air!
Attention is now being turned to providing internet access to people who are isolated and lack home computers, but would like to venture into the on-line world: maybe to stay in contact with far-flung loved ones; do grocery shopping on-line; or attend a virtual language lesson, 56
