A PROJECT to donate computers to schools in Sri Lanka has been a huge success.

Stroud Rotary Club has already sent more than 100 PCs the developing country and hopes to deliver twice that number by May.

Rotarian Lakshman Gallage, of Uplands, who moved from Sri Lanka to Britain 11 years ago, devised the project.

"The computer is a basic thing in this country but if you go to that part of the world, we cannot afford to buy computers," said the father-of-two, who manages Snax 24 in Stroud.

"The best thing for a developing country is to educate its children because children are the future.

"I just want to thank the people of Stroud for their support."

Since the project started about two years ago, dozens of PCs have been donated by residents, businesses and schools in and around Stroud.

Rotarian Jim Hutton, the former owner of Stroud Microcomputers, prepares them at his home in Randwick and stores them until requests are received from contacts abroad.

"Rotary is about making good things happen," said Mr Hutton, 64, a grandfather-of-one.

"One of the good things we’re doing here is helping children who would otherwise come out of a farm, go to school and then go back to the land.

"If anyone is going to make progress out of that kind of depravation, they’ve got to have modern skills."

Demand is so high that batches of 15 or 16 computers are sent out every two months.

Mr Gallage, who was recently awarded Sri Lanka's second highest honour after raising money to build flats for tsunami victims, helps the goods through customs.

Computers are finally distributed to rural areas with the help of local Rotarians, authorities and volunteers.

The team has also recently sent PCs to schools in the war-ravaged part of the country via the Red Cross.

So far, they have delivered a total of about 100 computers to 20 to 30 schools.

Mr Hutton visited one of the schools in the Kalutara province in February.

"They were using them with great enthusiasm, but they’re all beginners," he said.

"They treated us like royalty, as if we had given them gold bars."

Sanath Da Silva, a Sri Lankan Rotarian who owns an IT company, is training the teachers to use the computers.

To donate to the project, visit www.stroudrotary.org.uk or call Mr Hutton on 01453 765401.