Miss Cambridgeshire, Amber Twell of March, spent the day with the Chernobyl Children’s Life Line supporting staff and playing with the children at an indoor play centre in Bury St Edmunds.
CCLL was founded in 1991 to help the children affected from the radioactive fallout following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Almost 30 years have now passed since the fourth reactor exploded in the former Soviet Union, but there are far more indirect victims than could have been predicted.
To this day Chernobyl is still seen as the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. Between 60 and 80 per cent of the deadly radiation landed over Belarus, which is where the majority of the children originate from who come to the UK as part of the scheme’s efforts.
It is thought by experts that it could take as long as 400 years for the affected areas to become de-contaminated.
Chernobyl Children’s Life Line is a national charity with many localised ‘links’. Each year the charity brings over 4000 children to the UK allowing them to benefit from the clean air, and un-contaminated food. Visiting the UK for just four weeks can increase these children’s life expectancy greatly.
Amber plans to continue to support many local charities whilst raising money for her own, Beauty with a Purpose. She has planned over the next few weeks, events such as fire walking, skydiving, race nights and fun runs.
Amber said: “I really enjoyed spending time with these kids. I felt a little silly not knowing Russian when they made such an effort to talk me.
“It is amazing to think that nearly 30 years on, people are still being affected by what could happen anywhere.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here