Burgess Provides Vital Starlink for Ukraine Crisis Relief Centre

The number of displaced Ukrainian families and individuals residing in temporary accommodation in Poland is rapidly rising due to the ongoing crisis in their home country. Burgess has recently started a volunteer programme in Krakow, of which the team identified a key issue that could be solved with some assistance from the brokerage, greatly benefiting registered charity All Hands and Hearts in its Ukraine Relief Mission. 

The charity is currently supporting various relief projects in Poland and working alongside the community to identify the urgent needs of the large Ukraine population now in the country. Activities include repair projects for community buildings and a partnership with Soup for Ukraine to prepare daily food parcels. 

Staff and volunteers’ ability to do vital work was being negatively impacted by poor internet capabilities at the base, an issue easily solved with a Starlink. 

Burgess employees were asked to donate whatever they could which would then be matched by the company, a target which the team hit within two hours of the fundraising page going live in December 2023. The donations surpassed the target so drastically that Burgess is now able to pay for a Starlink subscription fee for at least two years. Within just eight days, a Starlink Rev 2 was delivered to All Hands and Hearts in Krakow. 

Starlink is an internet service that was pioneered by Elon Musk: a low-orbit constellation of satellites offering even the most remote areas connection speeds greater than 100Mbps. The Starlink Roam is extremely flexible, with the ability to connect within minutes and capable of packing up quickly and easily should it need to be moved. This technology is the most beneficial solution to ensure that every community can make use of telecommunications, no matter how remote it is. 

Burgess offers its employees the opportunity to volunteer at a project run by All Hands and Hearts every year; last year, three volunteers were flown to Krakow to assist with the Ukraine Relief Mission. Starlink is a solution that has been deployed on superyachts, and Malcolm Barraclough, Electrical Engineer at Burgess and one of the volunteers, recognised this as a solution to the woefully inadequate internet service at the base.

Barraclough commented, ‘This is a cause very close to my heart and I am delighted that Burgess could assist in providing the base with this vital technology. We are very fortunate to be working in a field that has access to the latest technological advancements, which, with some thought can be passed on to those who need it the most. My hope is that more companies will join us and fund additional Starlink equipment and services’.