Rotarians in Ilkley are hoping fears about the Millennium computer bug will help provide youngsters at cash-strapped Romanian schools with a much-needed hi-tech boost.

The Rotary Club of Ilkley has launched an appeal for unwanted computers and is aiming to send a van-load of equipment to Romania this autumn.

And members are hoping firms and individuals planning to upgrade their systems will consider donating their old equipment for use in the east European schools, where there will be no use for the computers' internal clocks which it is feared could be affected by the Millennium bug.

The club decided to help following a chance meeting between club president Desmond Longfellow and Andrew Gardner, 37, who comes from Ilkley but now lives in Romania where he teaches English in a village school 100 miles north of Bucharest.

The club's international chairman Edwin Bonner said: "Andrew was back visiting his family in Ilkley when he bumped into Desmond. They knew each other from years ago through Ilkley Baptist Church, got talking and it's gone on from there.

"We found out Andrew's school, which has 1,200 pupils aged seven to 14, does not have a single computer to train children for the future.

"Although they're intelligent and may have qualifications these children aren't going to get very far in the future if they haven't got computer skills.

"And if you're going to be teaching simple word processing and database skills you don't have to worry about what might happen in 2000.

"Andrew said it will be a tremendous boost for the school and says as the director's a bit of a computer buff he should be able to cannibalise equipment even if there are little things which aren't working."

The computers are to be transported to eastern Europe in October by the Rotary Club of Skipton and Craven, which is taking out a fleet of refurbished redundant ambulances for use in Romanian villages.

Mr Bonner added: "Through personal contacts we've already been promised about a dozen computers for the school but have now decided to widen the appeal so we can help other schools before the winter sets in.

"If the computer appeal really takes off we'd be quite prepared to hire a van ourselves and get a couple of members to drive out there."

Anyone willing to donate any computer equipment to the appeal should call Mr Longfellow on (01943) 467122 or Mr Bonner on (01943) 600630.

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