CHILDREN born near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will enjoy a holiday in Little Hulton this summer -- if £5,500 can be raised.

The trip aims to help youngsters aged nine to 11 boost their immune systems after years of exposure to radiation in the former Soviet republic of Belarus.

About 99 per cent of the country is still contaminated -- 15 years after the disaster -- and children there have a high chance of contracting cancer and leukaemia.

But campaigners say medical evidence shows just a month in Little Hulton could add two years to these children's lives.

Organiser Elaine Moore from Astley, said: "Most of the children are sick because they have very low immune systems caused by the radiation.

"But by the end of the month they are often different children. They are brighter, happier, have put on weight and generally go back home a lot healthier."

She added the group needed to raise £5,500 to pay the air fare and excursion costs for the 10 children and their interpreters.

They will spend a month -- from August to September -- with families in Little Hulton and Walkden.

Mrs Moore, who had an "eye-opening" visit to Belarus last year, added: "The children need to boost their immune systems because the winters in Belarus are very severe.

"The child mortality rate in Belarus has been very high since the disaster 15 years ago."

The cost of the holidays is being paid for by funds raised by the Peel Team Link - made up of members of St Paul Peel's and St John's Churches in Little Hulton and St Paul's Church in Walkden.

They have teamed up with the charity Chernobyl Children's Lifeline which helps sick Belarus youngsters travel to Britain to improve their health.

The Peel Team Link have raised almost £3,000 since February and have planned more events before the fund-raising deadline of the end of July.

These include a bachelor auction -- where young men can be bid for to go out with on dates with -- and members doing a sponsored walk from Little Hulton to Blackpool and taking part in the Blackpool to Manchester Bike Ride.

Other events include a quiz night, flower craft day and a teddy bears' picnic.

The Chernobyl disaster happened in April 1986 and exposed the surrounding area to radioactivity 90 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb in the Second World War.

Children in Belarus are at a high risk of contracting cancer or leukaemia because the food produced there is still contaminated by radiation.

For instance, there has been an 800 per cent increase in thyroid diseases since the disaster.

But doctors say a month in Britain can improve the children's life expectancy by up to two years.