A CHARITY is in desperate need of families willing to host children affected by the Chernobyl disaster.

The Billericay Link of the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline charity plays host to a dozen youngsters each year who still suffer the effects of the nuclear disaster 26 years ago.

However, several families who would normally host children have dropped out, leaving the charity lacking the required number of families.

"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."

Host families provide accommodation to a pair of children from Ukraine or Belarus for a period of four weeks.

The children, aged between 10 and 13, spend the working week following a programme of activities and excursions around Billericay, Essex and London.

They spend the weekends with their host families and the whole experience can be very rewarding for all concerned, according to David, who first got involved with the charity 15 years ago in Dorset.

He 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.