Children in Belarus have plenty to worry about. They have been left with the legacy of the Chernobyl disaster that contaminated the land around them.

IAN FANNON met children from the former Soviet country spending time in Wiltshire over Christmas and the New Year.

THE children from the Belarus town of Zaslowya are excited to be spending Christmas and the New Year in Swindon.

It is an adventure for them, and a chance to experience the culture of a different country.

One of the nine young visitors, 14-year-old Ludmila Sinolo, said she was grateful for the scheme.

"I'd like to see London," said Ludmila, whose mother is a schoolteacher and whose father works at a university.

"I think it must be a very beautiful city and I would like to see the Tower of London and the churches and museums.

"I think I will like it in Swindon as well."

But there is more to this trip than a cultural exchange.

Mark Gillingham, who co-ordinates the project from his Liddington home, said that the main aim of the Zaslowya Project was to improve conditions for people in Belarus, which is battling the effects of Chernobyl with even slimmer resources than in most East European countries.

He said that children visiting Swindon and other parts of the country helps highlight the plight of their countrymen and women.

But the group also has great fun and it is a wonderful healthy break.

"These visits can make a big difference to the health of these children as it flushes out the impurities and can extend their life expectancy," he said.

"Most of them will never have left their own town, let alone their country, so it is great for them to see the Western world as well."

The youngsters, who return to Belarus on January 2, have immersed themselves in Swindon life.

During their stay they will take in the Cotswold Wildlife Park, Dorcan Sports Centre, a Swindon Town game and skating at the Link Centre. They will also tour London.

There are also plans for even more tangible aid to be given from Swindon when Princess Margaret Hospital closes next year.

Surplus beds and other medical equipment from PMH could be given a new lease of useful life at a hospital in radiation-hit Belarus.

When the Okus Road hospital closes next November to be replaced by the Great Western Hospital at Commonhead, the beds will become surplus to requirements and would otherwise have to be scrapped.

But under an agreement which is being negotiated between Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust and a Swindon charity that helps children in Belarus, they could now prove to be a life-saving present.

Mr Gillingham said he visited the hospital in Zaslowya three years ago and it lacked even the most basic equipment.

"It's hard to believe unless you see it," he said. "They didn't even have blood testing equipment when I visited.

"Belarus is one of the poorest countries in Europe and the air and food are still badly contaminated from the nuclear disaster.

"We hope to fill an articulated lorry with equipment and beds that are no longer needed at PMH, and hopefully it will make a huge difference."

Hospital spokesman, Chris Birdsall, said PMH would help out other hospitals whenever it could, having earlier this year given an old breast screening unit to a Polish clinic.

He said PMH was seriously considering the request for help from the Zaslowya Project, and was currently trying to work out what it could spare when it moved to the Commonhead site.

"If there is anything that's appropriate, we will probably be able to donate it," he said.

"We would much rather people in other countries have the benefit of it than see it scrapped."

More children will be coming to the county

ANOTHER set of children from Belarus will visit Wiltshire in the New Year under a separate scheme.

Over the last four years, Chernobyl Children Lifeline has been giving youngsters from the country the chance to spend a month in Wiltshire, which can extend their life expectancy by two years. At the moment the average life expectancy is 30.

On January 7 a group of children will be visiting the Link Centre in Swindon, where they will experience the thrill of the ice rink.

Westbury couple Henry and Anne Leigh set up the West Wiltshire link in 1997 after reading about the charity in a magazine.

Mr Leigh talked about two of the girls the charity has helped.

He said: "Sasha Moros is 17 and has been coming to Wiltshire since she was 13 years old.

"She initially came here for a month's respite care but then went to school for seven months to improve her English.

"She stayed on to do GCSEs and achieved ten excellent marks and is now in her second year of A-Levels at Warminster School.

"She has had interviews for Bristol, Bath and Oxford universities and hopes to study cancer research.

"Natasha Moiseyeva is also 17 and has had similar experiences in Wiltshire but did her examinations up to A- Level equivalent at home.

"She has 11 GCSEs all at A star and A grades."

The girls' progression to university is dependent on finding sponsorship for tuition. The charity covers travel expenses, school uniform and a nominal amount of pocket money each month. This costs £650 a year.

Mr Leigh added that there are four children staying at their branch of the charity over Christmas and they will be joining 12 others from the Salisbury link for the ice-skating day out.