Peak District group which sent tons of aid to Chernobyl children steps back from volunteering

The Buxton and Longnor Chernobyl Aid will no longer be sending out donations to Belarus but will instead continue to collect money to support the charity.

The Buxton and Longnor branch of the Chernobyl Aid UK has sent hundreds of tons of supplies to children living in the nuclear fall-out zone who are still getting poorly even more than 30 years after the disaster, because of contaminated supplies.

These years of dedication to the cause have finally started to take their toll on Barbara Cox, her husband David and their friend Roy Baldwin.

Barbara, who received a British Empire Medal for her work with the Chernobyl children, said: “We are all in our 80s and it’s too much to do now as it is such heavy demanding work to load the lorries up.

“We are not giving up fundraising, we will still be raising money to help the other groups around the country send their aid, but we felt we had to call it a day on sending out truck loads of humanitarian aid as we aren’t getting any younger.”

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 left large parts of Belarus contaminated. The children who live in these areas have to eat food containing radio-nuclides, which is damaging to their immune systems.

The aid sent from the Buxton and Longnor branch helps more than 900 families living in Chernobyl whose children are sick with diabetes.

Barbara said: “When we went over and told them that we wouldn’t be bringing aid out anymore they cried.

“These people have stayed in our homes, and stayed in our hearts, for years and we will not be letting them go, we just need to do things differently.

“Every pencil, every towel that is sent out on the lorries has to be counted, wrapped and documented as well as being bundled up and put on the lorry, and it is very physically demanding and something we have been struggling with as we get older.”

Barbara stressed it was not the end for helping the children and the group would continue to fundraise to help support aid being delivered by other regional groups.

“It’s been such a big part of my life, but the time is right to take a backseat,” she added.