In a joint Initiative with Hucknall Round Table, two members of The Round Table Lodge of Nottinghamshire 8604 ,secretary Ian Raynor & Brother Lee Freeley,attended the fairwell party given by The Friends of Chernobyl Children at The Royal British Legion in Hucknall.

FOCC is a National Charity set up in 1994, following the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor explosion, to give Belarussian children from the ages of 6 to 13, an opportunity to live for 4 weeks in an area free from radio active contamination, .the children are usually from orphanages or disadvantaged homes and enjoy having a month living with various families in the UK.

It is reported that the Chernobyl explosion was the world's worst nuclear accident, it released 190 tons of highly radioactive waste material into the atmosphere exposing the people of Chernobyl to radioactivity 90 times greater than that from the explosion of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

As part of the former Soviet Union, Belarus lies in the shadow of Chernobyl , the southern border being only 15 kilometres from the plant. The wind direction on the day of the disaster caused the majority of the fallout to be directed towards the Belorussian towns of Gomel and Mogilev. Of the radiation that was released by Chernobyl, over 70% fell onto the population of Belarus resulting in 800,000 children in Belarus and 380,000 in the Ukraine being at a high risk of contracting cancer or leukaemia. It will be another 24,000 years before the land is safe and the children no longer suffer.

A few years ago the Hucknall community set up there own FOCC Local Group, and now every year 12 children are not only hosted by Hucknall Families they also attend the Hucknall National Schools.

Various site seeing trips and activities are organised during there stay with many local organisations supporting the group

They put out an appeal for among other things, clothing, seeds & Toiletries & in true Round Table & Masonic traditions we not only answered the call a donation was generously given.

The photograph shows the Children with W Bro Ian Raynor on the left, Bro Lee Freely in the centre and Chris Dobson, Chairman of Hucknall Round