AN APPEAL has been set up to help deprived and sick children in Margate’s twin town of Yalta in the Ukraine.

During a civic visit last year, Margate's mayor Dorothea West was drawn to the plight of youngsters in four children’s homes in the city.

The children are aged between five and 17 and are mentally and physically handicapped, Tuberculosis patients, or victims from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor fall out from 1986.

She said: “Although the children are fed and housed with basic necessities, there is no money available for toys or games, and clothing is in short supply. There is also a need for similar items for young children who are usually cared for at home.”

The mayor and her deputy “felt a strong need to help” and have set up the Yalta Hope Fund. They aim to send a lorry load of goods to the city in September.

She said: “As well as supplies we need to raise money to pay for the hire of the lorry, for the journey, and to supplement items that we cannot collect from donations.”

The Oriental Buffet restaurant at Margate seafront has helped with civic fund raising in the last year and os holding a fundraising evening on Thursday, May 29, at 7pm.

Tickets are £12.50 and are available from the Secretary, Mayor’s Parlour, Old Town Hall, Market Street, Margate, CT9 1EU.