At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Rushen & Western Mann, members were treated to a talk by Norman Rivers B.E.M. volunteer and organiser of the Isle of Man branch of the charity ‘Friends of Chernobyl’s Children’ at which time the children’s charity was presented with a ?500 donation by Rotary Club President Geoff McCann and host Ashton Lewis.
Norman highlighted the events of 26th April 1986 when the No 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power station overheated, exploded, then went into meltdown. This was the world's worst nuclear accident and released 190 tons of highly radioactive waste material into the atmosphere.
Through direct exposure from the atmosphere and indirect exposure through the food chain, children in the Chernobyl area received a dose of radiation 40 times above permissible levels. The number of incidences of thyroid cancer is now up 3000 per cent and it is estimated that over the next 15-20 years over 40,000 children in Belarus will contract the disease.
The charity was set up to relieve the suffering of children affected by the radiation and the main thrust of the local branch is to bring some of the children to the Isle of Man, away from the seriously contaminated environment in their own country in order to detoxify their immune systems and to provide dental, optical & if necessary, health checks.
During one month's stay each year in the Isle of Man about 25 children live with host families who provide a friendly stable environment, nourishing food and lots of loving care. The charity meanwhile organises a varied programme of activities, both educational & recreational.
The Rotary Club held a ‘Pimms & Party Food’ event in August to raise the funds and a big thank you to Rotary Club member Sir Miles and Lady Walker for hosting the party at their home in Colby and also providing the delicious food.
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