A DORSET solider is attempting to improve education is his poverty stricken hometown in Ghana, by raising £35,000 to help build a new library and IT Suite.

Married father-of-three Nyame Ayeh Assuon, 36, popularly known as Sony, moved to Britain 12 years ago when he was a student, and later joined the army.

Now a Lance Corporal in the Royal Corps of Signals, Mr Assuon is hoping to improve education in his penniless home town, in the Western region of Ghana by building a library and IT suite.

Mr Assuon, who is based in Blandford, said: "As an IT professional within the Royal Corps of Signals, I felt that I had a lot more to offer the community where I was raised and educated.

"In August 2014, I founded the Assuon Foundation Trust, a registered charity, in order to set up a library and an IT suite and to introduce additional IT into the schools."

The Assuon Foundation Trust (AFT), helps to raise awareness of, and promote educational development in Mr Assuon's much loved childhood home of Nsueam, Ghana.

The library and IT suite will serve 10 schools and 3,500 children in the region, at the cost of £35,000.

Mr Assuon has been granted permission to build the library, which is located on the same spot where he was taught under a tree as a young boy.

He said: "When I go there I tell the children that I was like them and now I’m a communications systems engineer in the British Army, currently reading a foundation degree programme with the University of Bournemouth.

“I tell them that they should follow their dreams, and this starts with education – but it would be so much easier for them if they had a library and computers.”

However, Dorset-based cyber-security company C3IA Solutions has got behind Mr Assuon's efforts and donated £2,000 with the promise of on-going support.

Matt Horan, security director for C3IA Solutions in Poole, is a former Royal Signaller himself.

He said: "Sony came to see us and showed us photos of his home town and explained what he wanted to do. We decided at once to get on board and make a donation. We said that we’ll also help out with storage units for the equipment during the building process.

“Sony has managed to set up a registered charity, learned how to build a website himself, got mayors and MPs to support him and organises fundraising events."

Speaking fondly of Mr Assuon's tireless work on behalf of his hometown, Mr Horan encouraged others to "get behind him", adding: "He is quite an inspiration and he is pleading with the general public for support."

Go to assuonfoundationtrust.org.uk, or c3ia.co.uk for more information.