Dancing wheelchair will go from Uttlesford to Ukraine
Nastia Laletina who has won prizes for dancing in a wheelchair. - Credit: Archant
A wheelchair which will allow a little girl to dance will be among the goods taken out from Uttlesford to Ukraine next month.
Volunteers with Felsted Aid loading up the vans. Philip James, Alan Hillier, Avril Bantock, Angela Peacock, Derek Herbert, Pauline Craven. - Credit: Archant
A convoy from Felsted Aid will take goods and medical equipment to the Revival Centre in Chernihiv, Ukraine, which treats children and young people affected by the Chernobyl disaster 30 years ago.
On this journey, there will also be a special lightweight wheelchair, which has been bought by Felsted Prep School especially for Nastia Laletina now aged 13 who ballroom dances competitively in her wheelchair with a partner who is able bodied. The pair have won several prizes.
This first journey by road of 2017 will be on Thursday, March 9. There will be three vans and two trailers and six volunteer drivers.
The journey will take four days carrying six and a half tons of aid including toiletries, textiles and shoes for children, walking aids and toys.
There will also be school bags with pens and pencils, exercise books, erasers and pencil sharpeners for 100 seven-year-old children who will be starting school in September.
The charity is currently putting out an appeal. Its Mercedes van has had a serious mechanical problem and they have had to replace its turbo which has drained the charity’s resources dramatically.
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Felsted Aid for Deprived Children was formed in 2001 by partners Alan Hilliar and Pauline Craven and became a registered charity in October 2003. In 2009 the charity took the working name of UK-AID.
The Chernobyl disaster, in April 1986 is regarded as the biggest social-economic catastrophe in peacetime history.
It contaminated half the the area of Ukraine. Over 200,000 people had to be evacuated and resettled while 1.7 million people were directly affected by the disaster. The death toll attributed to Chernobyl, including people who died from cancer years later, is estimated at 125,000 and rising. Today, thousands of children are still affected with cancers, tumours, leukaemia, cerebral palsy, neurological problems and many hereditary diseases.
Any support for Felsted Aid will be gratefully received. Donations can be made to www.justgiving.com/felstedaid
