A group of community champions have helped to give a family of Ukrainian refugees the chance to further settle into the Mansfield area.

The Musketeers CIC, which is behind the #WeMakeICTPossible digital poverty campaign, repurposes donated old computer equipment for local families.

Among recent beneficiaries are 12-year-old Valeria Taranenko and her family, including her mother, Marina. They have moved to Mansfield to escape the war in their homeland and are being supported by the Old Meeting House Unitarian Chapel, among others.

The Musketeers have provided Valeria, a student at Queen Elizabeth’s Academy, Mansfield, with a Chromebook, as well as donating a desktop computer for the whole family to use.

The Rev Maria Pap, from the chapel, said the family was very grateful for the help.

“Marina and her family are Ukrainian refugees, who settled in Mansfield and were generously supported by many to make a new life for themselves,” she explained.

“This donation from the Musketeers will allow the family to engage with those left back in their homeland, learn English, and give Valeria additional help with her schoolwork.”

The Old Meeting House, after a first project of organising the transportation of many donations to Ukraine and to refugee camps in neighbouring countries, has decided to help refugees in the Mansfield area.

The chapel hosted Marina and her family, and was overwhelmed by the kindness and help from many individuals and institutions in and around Mansfield.

On Friday afternoons, from 3pm to 5pm, there is a chance for Ukrainian parents to engage in conversation and English learning, while their children have a separate room to play in, at the chapel.

The Old Meeting House in the centre of Mansfield, off Stockwell Gate, is open to many activities for the whole community — a Stay and Play Group for under 5s on Tuesdays (term-time); Age Concern coffee mornings on Thursdays; Arts and Crafts on Friday afternoons; and monthly charity Saturday coffee mornings.

A British Sign Language course will start in September and a kickboxing group is meeting on the premises.

More information is available on the chapel’s noticeboard or at the Facebook page (MansfieldOldMeetingHouse).

Gary Jordan, director of The Musketeers CIC, said they were pleased to be able to help a Ukrainian family in need with donated ICT equipment.

He added: “It will be a fantastic means for the family to learn more English and more about the town they live in.

“It will also give a means of access to so much more as the family adjusts to life in Mansfield.”

Having helped 367 families so far, The Muskeeters is still looking for donations of tower hard drives, laptops and all-in-one computers to enable it to give more help to local families in the fight against digital poverty.”