A group of children from Belarus visited Ely this week, as part of a scheme to give youngsters from a country still dealing with the legacy of the Chernobyl disaster a break from its after-effects. The local branch of national charity Chernobyl Children

A group of children from Belarus visited Ely this week, as part of a scheme to give youngsters from a country still dealing with the legacy of the Chernobyl disaster a break from its after-effects.

The local branch of national charity Chernobyl Children Lifeline invites a group of children to spend four weeks with host families twice a year.

Although none of the group of nine-year-old girls visiting this week were born at the time of the Chernobyl explosion, they are living on land that is still contaminated, and it is estimated that a four-week stay away from the pollution can lengthen their life expectancy by up to two years.

The girls learned some of the skills required to make a pizza at Pizza Express on Tuesday, before they went on to the Octagon Dance Studio.