Burgess supplies Starlink to Krakow

There is a growing number of displaced Ukrainian families and individuals who have fled the crisis in Ukraine and are now residing in temporary accommodation in Poland. Following the recent Burgess volunteer programme to Krakow, our team identified a key issue on the ground that could easily be solved with some assistance.

The extremely poor internet capabilities currently available at their base adversely affects both the volunteers’ ability to do their vital work, and the displaced people they are there to help. An easy and cost-effective solution was to provide the base with the Starlink service.

Burgess asked its employees to donate what they could, which the company would then match. The team hit its target within two hours of the fundraising page going live. Within nine days a Starlink Rev 2 had been ordered and shipped to All Hands and Hearts in Krakow.

What is Starlink?

The Starlink internet service, pioneered by Elon Musk, is a low-orbit constellation of satellites offering connection speeds of up to 100Mbps even in the most remote areas. The Starlink Roam is extremely flexible, connects within minutes and then packs up quickly should you need to move it to a new location.

It comes in one box complete with everything you need to get online. This includes the Starlink, a base, router and all cables. It is then a case of ‘plug and play’. The technology is the best solution to ensure no community, no matter how remote or rural, can make use of telecommunications and its economic, educational, and social benefits.

Burgess x All Hands and Hearts

Every year Burgess offers its employees the opportunity to help out at a chosen project around the world run by All Hands and Hearts, a volunteer-powered disaster relief organisation. In 2022, three volunteers were flown to The Philippines to help rebuild schools destroyed by a typhoon, and in 2023, a further three were sent to Krakow to assist with the Ukraine Relief Mission.

While at the volunteer base it became apparent that the current Wi-Fi solution was woefully inadequate and volunteers, displaced families and individuals were forced to rely on mobile phones. This seriously impacted the work of the charity and the ability of Ukrainians to contact loved ones.

One of our volunteers, Malcolm Barraclough, a Mechanical Engineer in Burgess Technical Services, identified a solution that has been deployed on superyachts. Given the remote destinations to which superyachts travel, Starlink is now the chosen provider. Its reliability, effectiveness in remote locations and ease of use made it an excellent candidate to be deployed at the base.

Malcolm 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 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.’