Ayrshire Link is hoping to invite a group of 16 children from the Ukraine to come to Ayrshire in the summer of 2015 but they are desperately short of host families.

As a registered charity, Ayrshire Link works with people from all over the county, helping to improve the lives of the Chernobyl children.

Local businesses, clubs, schools, tourist attractions and individuals have raised money, donated clothes, and worked tirelessly to help the children who have visited Ayrshire.

Now they hope to find families who would be interested in hosting two children for two or four weeks.

The volunteers could make a real difference in the livfes of these children.

The visit lasts four weeks, with potential dates of between June 14 and July 12 of next year, and each family hosts two children. You can choose if you would like boys or girls, aged between 10 and 12.

The children come with a leader, who is the English teacher from their school and she will be available 24/7 to help translate or help with any problems. They can also get a member of the committee on the phone at any time day or night The children are out nearly every day, as there is a full four week itinerary of activities.

There are also activities that host families are welcome to take part in if they wish.

For the other activities, children would be required to be dropped off in the morning at a pick up point and then picked up again in the evening.

Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline was founded to help the children of Belarus and Ukraine, where 70 per cent of the radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster fell.

The charity has been bringing children to the UK for recuperative care since 1992 and the Ayrshire Branch has been established for 12 years, in which time they have accommodated approximately 450 children.

Their aim is to help these children by boosting their immune system and offering them respite from the constant bombardment of radiation.

When the children arrive their bodies are full of Caesium 137 which they ingest through their food chain.

Caesium 137 is a bi-product of the radioactive fallout and lowers the immune system making the children more susceptible to many illnesses.

Four weeks in Ayrshire eating fresh uncontaminated food, breathing clean air and taking potassium based vitamins reinvigorates them for the return home. In Belarus and Ukraine it takes two years for the Caesium levels to accumulate to the same extent, therefore the respite promotes an additional two extra years of healthy life.

Everyone involved with Ayrshire Link are all volunteers, no one gets paid and all monies raised go towards paying to bring another child to Ayrshire.

They rely very much on the help and generosity of local businesses, dentist, opticians and fundraisers to help continue to make a difference in the lives of these children.

For the charity to continue, they need people who can help make a difference. Whether it’s making a financial donation, helping provide treatment or whether you are willing to take these children into your homes for their four week stay in Ayrshire.

There are lots of ways to help.

They need local dentists or opticians.

Or can you or your company help sponsor a child’s travel (£500), offer a day’s activities or make a donation of any amount towards a visit?

If you would like to host children make a donation or could offer a day’s activities for these children from Chernobyl, then look at their website www.ccll.org.uk/ayrshire or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ayrshirelink.

Send an email to Michael Lafferty, chairman of Ayrshire Link if you would like more information.