THE lives of ten desperate Ukrainian street children will be saved thanks to a Kendal-based charity, which has raised a remarkable £20,000 in just 12 months.

New Beginnings has enough to buy them their first home, and today The Westmorland Gazette is launching a major appeal to equip it, reports Karen Barden.

Taking up a cause which has already won the hearts and minds of people in South Lakeland and Eden, the challenge is on to raise another £20,000.

A house called Genesis will be the first safe haven for the poverty-stricken kids of Kiev, who currently spend sub-zero winters in sewers and summers sleeping in cemeteries and on park benches.

Charity supremo Kendal MBE Pat Wright has spearheaded the campaign to bring hope where there is currently only despair and fear and abuse.

She said that to be in a position to buy a house within a year was remarkable.

"Apart from a £1,000 and £500 donation, the rest of the money has come in relatively small amounts from schoolchildren, mince pie nights and small functions," explained Mrs Wright. "We have an active group of fund-raisers in Eden and have been delighted to get a little from a lot."

But now the race is on. Within days a property is likely to be secured, a village house, with land, where hens can be kept, and vegetables grown.

A Christian married couple will become "parents", giving children a precious taste of love, stability and a future. The main focus of the house will be a family room named Kendal, and on its walls will be the names of those who helped create it.

Initially, the property will be no more than a shell. Everything will have to be provided - from a septic tank to plastic sheets. Most of these children will have little, or no experience of sleeping in beds or any creature comforts. Items will be paid for here and bought in the Ukraine.

Kiev is a city riddled with corruption and mafia influences. It has another sinister side too its street children, numbering, at a conservative estimate, 8,000. Care is provided for 100 of them - the rest face a daily battle for survival.

Winters see temperatures dive to minus 30 degrees. These children drink vodka to keep warm, sniff glue to provide fleeting respite and are too often used as sex slaves, or sold for prostitution.

"People ask why I am doing this, when there are so many good causes in this country," said Mrs Wright.

"We are talking about children, who live in packs, like sewer rats. They have nothing, or no one. One three-year-old was found alone in a cellar.

"These little urchins are human beings and have a right to protection. I will defend that right until the day I die."

New Beginnings has trustees working on the ground in Kiev, through the Church of the Holy Trinity. As soon as a deal is clinched on a house, work will start when money rolls in.

A shopping list has been drawn up and we are appealing to Westmorland Gazette readers to donate towards any of the items mentioned. Local Ukrainian tradesmen will be used to make furniture, where possible.

"Everything has to be sturdy and of good quality," said Mrs Wright.

"I used to get fazed by all this. Now, I know we can do it. We have already had such tremendous support from so many. Even Heron Hill Primary School at Kendal has its own pupil committee, which raises money for us.

"Saving ten street children might be a drop in the ocean, but we could have a future president of the Ukraine, an eminent doctor or scientist, people who will learn and benefit from being given a chance and will go out there and help others."

l See Karen Barden's People in the Features section for more on this story.

February 10, 2003 14:30