Yeovil Town  Community Sports Trust played host to a group of Ukranian children from Kobrin, Ukraine today. The children all live less than 50 km from the scene of the worst radiation leak the world has known.

All could be subject to illness in later life and a visit of a month to countries outside Ukraine could add as much as two years to their lives.

The children's visit was organised by the charity Chernobyl Children's Life Line who have branches all over the world.



The Charities main aims are:

·To bring child victims of the Chernobyl disaster to the UK for recuperative breaks of four weeks - over 46,000 have been brought over to stay with host families since we started in 1992.

·To provide ongoing supplies of multi-vitamins and basic healthcare products to the children on their return (thousands of tonnes in the last 9 years).

·To work with our Belarussian partners in Minsk and Gomel, to locate children who are in need of recuperative care from outlying villages.

·To help children too sick to travel by providing chemotherapy medicines to Children's Cancer Hospitals in Minsk, Gomel and other regions.

·Support with medicines and equipment: No. l Baby Home in Minsk, and many other orphanages.

·When needed, bring children to the UK for long term medical care and education.

·Support Kobrin children's village.



Visits are organised by a local organiser, in this case Richard Lewis, who is involved with the Yeovil and Sherborne branch, while the children are looked after by local families.

Today's group had a tour of Huish Park and watched the players training before being joined by the majority of the first team squad for a souvenir photograph.