Christ Church is hosting a special talk to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster.

Marina Harodnaya, a young Belarusian woman who herself came to Bristol for a respite holiday in 1998 with the Charity Chernobyl Children’s Life Line. She is now married with a young daughter and she will be able to tell you first-hand how everyday life is affected by what happened 30 years ago and how she personally benefitted from her visit to England. She will be prepared to answer any questions you may have.

The people of Belarus are still suffering from the legacy of the world’s worst nuclear disaster when over 60% of the radioactive elements blown out of Reactor No. 4 fell on this small and impoverished former Soviet country. There is a permanent 30km Exclusion Zone surrounding the stricken reactor. The charity Chernobyl Children’s Life Line was formed with the aim of helping the children affected by offering them some relief from the relentless bombardment of radiation. A month’s respite holiday in the United Kingdom helps to boost their immune systems by providing plenty of nourishing, uncontaminated food, clean fresh air and lots of fun.

Over half a million children in Belarus are classified as at ‘high risk’ by the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.). The Bristol Link of the charity brings 16 children to spend four weeks in this area each year and also supports, through financial aid, a school and community projects in the South East of Belarus. The national charity supports orphanages and hospital treatment in Belarus and Ukraine.

30 years after the disaster the event is not newsworthy but the after-effects will be there for over 24,000 years to come.