CHILDREN of Belarus whose lives have been blighted by the explosion at Chernobyl nuclear power station 16 years ago will need help from Western nations for generations to come.

That was the message from Tony Brewer, chairman of the new Mid-Wilts branch of the Chernobyl Children Life Line which has its inaugural meeting today.

Mr Brewer and his wife Margaret have been asked by the charity's founder, Victor Mizzi, to set up the new branch. The couple have been involved with the charity's West Wilts branch for two-and-a-half years, during which time they have hosted 22 children from the former Soviet country.

Last year, they visited Belarus to see for themselves the grinding poverty that most children live in, caused in part by fall-out from Chernobyl, over the border in the Ukraine, but also by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mr Brewer said: "Belarus got 70 per cent of the fall-out from the explosion and all but one per cent of the land is contaminated. It is a very poor country and has to eat what it grows. So, as well as getting the primary radiation from the explosion, the people take it in with the food they eat."

Because of their poverty, the Belarussians have a very inadequate diet, mainly subsisting on potatoes and pasta. Mr Brewer remembers that one 16-year-old girl who came to stay in the UK had never seen a banana before and didn't know what to do with it.

He said: "Bananas are very good for the children because the radiation leeches the potassium out of their bodies and bananas are a very good source of it. Although fruit is the same price in Belarus as it is here, the average salary is £15 a month."

Because Belarus is not a democracy it gets very little international aid from the US or western Europe. Poverty has a secondary effect in that parents seek solace from their problems in alcohol.

In one family that Mr and Mrs Brewer visited in the village of Lepichi, near the Belarussian capital, Minsk, a mother, a single parent, had sold virtually all her furniture and utensils to buy vodka.

Mr Brewer said: "The girl was so embarrassed she drew the curtain so we couldn't see her mother in the other room. The house was a wooden shack with no running water and no sanitation."

Over the last ten years or so, the people of Devizes and mid-Wiltshire have opened their hearts and their homes to children from the blighted country of Belarus.

Last year, Dauntsey's School in West Lavington chose the Chernobyl Child Life Line as its annual charity and handed over a cheque for more than £13,000. In return, the children presented the young fundraisers with a plaque expressing their thanks.

For these children, a month in England can add a year or two to their life expectancy, not only because of the health care they receive, but also due to the boost that the holiday, usually their first ever, gives them in terms of morale.

Mr Brewer said that by the time they return to their home country the children are very different.

The new branch is looking for families who can host children and for people to make a financial contribution.

For £15 a month, local philanthropists can sponsor a family, helping them afford to feed their children, many of whom suffer thyroid cancers and other diseases directly connected with the fall-out. Mr Brewer said: "Sponsorship virtually doubles the family's income and can save lives. It is truly a lifeline for these children."

Even before it has been properly constituted, the branch had raised £315. On the evidence of what has been achieved in the last ten years, that figure is bound to increase very quickly.

Anyone wanting to get involved should call (01380) 722265 or 07967 974238. People living in Devizes, Chippenham, Calne, Pewsey and Marlborough, are all eligible.