Billericay Charity in Need of Host Families

Thursday, 09 February 2012 13:37

The Billericay Link of the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline is in desperate need of families willing to host children affected by the Chernobyl disaster.

Every year the charity organises a dozen young people to come to the UK for a holiday as they are still experiencing the effect of the nuclear disaster almost 26 years ago now.

Each year the children are hosted by a family in and around Billericay, however this year some families have dropped out leaving the charity in need of new hosts.

"We are still desperate for hosts," said David Gladstone, chairman of the Billericay Link. "We still need to get at least three, or ideally four, more host families. We have never been this short before."

As a host family you provide acommodation to a pair of children from the Ukraine or Belarus for four weeks. A diverse programme of activities is organised by the charity including excursions around Billericay and neighbouring towns, plus trips into London and other attractions.

The experience is extremely rewarding for the children as many local businesses offer free or discounted health checks for the children and host families build amazing relationships over the scheme.

David said: "It's very evident that the children get an awful lot out of it."

Although the 72-year-old no longer hosts children himself, he has kept in touch with those he has hosted in the past.

"One of the girls who came on our first ever visit is about 27 years old and she has just announced her engagement," continued David.

"We are still very close to her and that's the sort of thing that happens and it's one of the rewards of doing it. Hosts generally have a great time. It would be wrong to say it's an easy task, but they get to know the children quite well and they get to know the family. It's very rewarding and quite productive."

The Billericay Link spends £12,000 a year to host the children. This year children will be visiting from the Belarusian village of Bragin, which is on the edge of the 19-mile exclusion zone around Chernobyl.

The children are due to arrive in the UK on June 17. "There is a full programme of events for the children, from the morning until the evening," added David. "It's much better for them because it adds to the quality of the stay and it relieves the host family from being there for 24 hours a day. They can be working hosts, we can even accommodate them until they are available after work. We are as flexible as we are able to be."

Anyone interested in hosting children should call David on 01277 653462.

• Or for more information about the Chernobyl Childrens Lifeline please click here.

Quotes from This is Total Essex