Friends of Chernobyl's Children

Area: The group is based in the small village of Bottesford in the north-east finger of Leicestershire. The rural Vale of Belvoir is known for its production of Stilton cheese and is over looked by Belvoir Castle.

The Friends of Chernobyl's Children Vale of Belvoir group was started in 2002. During this time we have hosted two groups of children from Belarus. Our current group is from the Mogilev region.

It was wonderful to see our current group return for their summer visit this year, the car park was full of excited families as their coach arrived. The children quickly found their hosts, and after big hugs and smiles all departed to their homes, for a well-earned rest after a very long and tiring journey.

The children enjoyed a relaxing programme of informal activities, with an emphasis on having lots of fun. Through the kind generosity of The Maltings Dental practice and Specsavers the children had their yearly checkups, with any dental work or glasses required given free of charge. The children also had weekly reflexology sessions, which they absolutely loved. The health of the children is paramount to the charity and the group provide a years supply of vitamins for each child, this combined with good healthy food and clean fresh air helps the children enormously during their visit.

It is fantastic to see how the children have developed and changed over the last three years. They have had many highlights during their visits with many local groups and companies providing opportunities for the children to try many different activities.

The children use a classroom at Bottesford Primary School to spend time together and work with their interpreter when not out on visits. Swimming is always very popular, with the children splashing about in the pool and shooting down the waterslide! We have had some great days out courtesy of the National Trust; at Belton House playing on the huge outdoor playground and at Tattershall Castle where the children dressed up in medieval outfits. The boys thought been a ‘Knight of the realm’ was particularly cool!

The children danced and played games at a party arranged by the ladies from the Church of Ascension. Asda put on a tea party complete with magician, the children took part in Yoga and looked at the planes at RAF Coningsby. They had a brilliant time running about in the indoor play area at Funfarm and going on all the rides at Twin Lakes Adventure Park.

Hoveringham Sailing Club took the children out on the lake, showing them how to manoeuvre the sailing boats. Each child taking turns to sail across the lake (with lots of rope pulling for the children and ducking of sails for the adults!) The group has also joined in with Ashfordby Dog Agility club and they put on a terrific day, where each child and host family child was given a dog to run the dog agility course with. Rosettes were handed out to all the children at the end of the day.

The children put on a farewell concert in the last week for everyone involved in the month. It is a sad day for the host families when the children depart back to Belarus. But it gives a great sense of achievement seeing them looking healthier with great memories to take home with them, along with a big bag full of good quality clothes and new shoes and trainers. We look forward to seeing them again soon.

There are just so many people to thank for their help during the year, in either raising funds, providing activities or medical help for the children. We thank each and every one of them for making such a difference to these children.