HI HUB News and Information for Histon and Impington Posts published from 18th December 2020 to 14th January 2021, with Categories: Features, News, from www.hihub.info. Father and daughter team help old laptops pass their screen test By Bridget Davidson 14 January 2021 Categories: Features Tags: Community, Computers, covid-19, IT, Parish Council “If you have a laptop that was recently replaced and wish to donate it please message me. I’ve arranged a small team of people who can help work some magic to erase your data, install an OS (operating system) and therefore allow kids to access online learning. Thank you.” A kind-hearted local dad and his teenage daughter have given up their free time to rebuild old laptops to lend to local children, allowing them to access remote learning in lockdown and their parents to get back to work. Bridget Davidson reports. he article you’re reading right now might not have been written if it hadn’t been for the time and expertise of Histon resident Colin Myles and his T daughter Anya. Why? Because I didn’t have a computer to write it on. When trying to set up homeschooling Colin’s post on local social media. for my seven-year-old son, Kiril, I discovered our ancient iPad was too old to access Teams (the computer program primary I contacted the Junior School immediately and, a week later, school children in our villages are using to do remote went there to pick up a loan laptop for Kiril. Now he and I are learning), leaving me with no choice but to let him take over both back online and back on track. my laptop. The one I use to run my business; the one I write articles for HI HUB on. I was effectively locked out of my own But access to this very precious resource couldn’t have been life. achieved without the dedication, hard work and community spirit of Colin and his daughter Anya, 13, who helped him Techies to the rescue! rebuild the laptops. Between them, the pair has rebuilt and sent to the school for redistribution 33 laptops, with more to Then, on Tuesday 5 January, the day he had been due to go go. back to school, I read a post on our local Facebook group, HI People, from Colin Myles, an IT expert and well-known locally I spoke to Colin and Anya to ask how their project came for various community roles including member of the Feast about. Colin, who works as a Senior Systems Architect at Committee; Chair of the Infant School PTA, and Beaver Scout Schlumberger, explains: “I work in IT… doing things like leader. Colin was appealing urgently for people to donate their collaboration, events, getting people to use IT, so I old laptops. understand what it takes to be able to do remote learning. I realised late last week when the school closures were Colin wrote: “The Junior and Infant school have a need for announced that the Junior School would be doing online laptops so pupils can access online learning where they learning so there was going to be real need for laptops. currently have no IT accessible at home. Although they’re doing their best, the Department of Education can’t get one million laptops to kids. I knew there’d The pair worked tirelessly at their dining table – to the be an issue. I knew there were loads of machines out there frustration of Colin’s wife, Julie – from the evening of that would be useful and that the villagers would donate.” Thursday 7 January, all weekend until Sunday 10th. Colin even took the Friday off work as holiday in order to get all the laptops up and running in time for the start of the second week of lockdown learning because he saw the urgency. “It’s important to do this right now,” he says, “as once the vaccine is in place, they won’t be needed. That’s why it’s important to get out there and do something right now.” I suggest that this must have been hard work. Colin admits it was but, if nothing else, it gave him and Anya something to do. “We’ve watched most of Netflix during lockdown and there’s not much more to watch,” he laughs. Soon Histon & Impington Parish Council got involved too, giving Colin a total of £550 from the village COVID fund to pay for new SSDs, which sped up the process considerably HI HUB writer, Bridget Davidson with her son Kiril, 7, who is now using a loan and saved many redundant laptops from landfill. With the cost laptop for homeschooling. Photo: Bridget Davidson of a new basic laptop at around the same price, Colin notes: “We turned around 30 laptops for the price of one.” A helping hand Everyone’s happy And they did. Residents from across Histon & Impington and further afield answered Colin’s call and brought him their old I asked Anya how she felt about rebuilding the laptops. tech. “Happy. It’s really nice to know they’re going to be used. I “We’ve got about 16 or 17 older machines. A couple are going enjoy knowing that once we’ve made one, that it’s going to go to be recycled for parts. Two desktops, three tablets and two to someone who needs it. That it going to help them.” MacBooks. Another 15 from one company that are coming in… and six more from people on the way. By the time we’ve Someone else is happy too. Another person who benefitted finished we will have about 50-60 useable machines, and 10 from one of Colin and Anya’s laptops was Naomi Chapman, older ones that will be reused .” who lives in Impington with her three girls, Siena, 8, Ria, 7, And Daisy, 5, all in different year groups. Understandably But collecting the machines was the easy part. Now Colin had homeschooling was a technological challenge, so Naomi to make them safe and usable again for schoolchildren. This bought a laptop. would take time, but luckily he had a willing and capable assistant to hand, his daughter Anya. Although Anya, who’s in Year 8 at IVC has never done anything like this before, she was keen to help. “I was bored,” she says with the shining honesty of a teenager, but a caring one too. “Because I saw you doing it, I just wanted to help.” And help she did. Working together in the evenings after Anya’s online lessons and Colin’s own job, they followed a lengthy process for each and every laptop. First they had to wipe all the original owner’s data three times to ensure there were no security concerns – a process that sometimes took 18 hours overnight – reboot it from a USB stick, install Windows and do updates, all of which Anya participated in. “It’s been a huge help, I have to say,” says Colin. “I love helping people,” Anya adds. A smashing time Naomi Chapman’s children have benefitted from a loan laptop. From left: Ria, There was some fun to be had too, as the pair enjoyed 7, Daisy, 5, and Siena, 8. smashing up the old hard drives which had to be physically destroyed. “I purchased a secondhand one for £50 but it has ended up “We’ve been teaching people across the country to do it as crashing halfway through tutorials so it wasn’t ideal. I ended well. I’m trying to inspire other people to help. In Cottenham up getting really frustrated with it and not being able to I gave them some instructions and they are doing it there complete their work assigned for them.” now. There’s a guy in South Yorkshire too, in fact all over the country. I work for global company with 100,000 people and Naomi got in contact with the Junior School and the laptop 3,000 in IT and tech. On Monday Anya and I are giving a she received has been invaluable. “I am truly grateful for it. webinar to tell them why they should do it too. If anyone It’s really helping us catch up. It’s helped me gain a routine wants to know how to do it they can email me.” with my children and I’m using it for each of them to share and doing one to one with them whilst the girls play or do As for Anya, she can now get back to doing the things she some arts and crafts.” loves; cuddling her cat Bambi, going for walks with friends and – when the pandemic allows – playing football again for I asked her what she’d like to say to Colin and Anya. Histon Hornets Under 13s. Their family can finally have their dining table back too. For now. “They are amazing, doing what they’ve done to help families like us get by during this hard time, they deserve something To donate a laptop or find out how to rebuild your own, email back for giving and helping during all of this. Thank you so Colin at: [email protected] much! My family and I are truly grateful!” To request a loan device for your child’s use, please contact Colin urges others to do the same as Naomi: “If people are the Junior School on 01223 712192 or email: struggling and if people can go to the schools, they can help. [email protected].