This year we hosted 16 children, 8 boys and 8 girls, referred by Children in Trouble and all in remission from cancer or leukaemia.

We have tried to comply with the policy of three holidayπs per child so three boys were on their third and last visit to us, five girls and three boys were new to us.  As well as new children we had five new host families and a new support family.

Our co-ordinator Stuart Carmichael had open heart surgery last November so there were some changes in the organising group however a sharing of tasks ensured the holiday ran smoothly with no major issues.  We were lucky to have an experienced interpreter, Natasha Baranova for the fourth year.  This year a new doctor was assigned and although she was a nice person and an experienced oncologist we felt her skills were not fully utilised in dealing with odd headache and tummy pain, she was also very homesick.

In retrospect we could have benefited from more information regarding the childrenπs medical conditions, for example, one boy who had had a brain tumour presented with mood swings and behavioural problems that may have been linked with his medical condition.

The rest of the children were a lively, happy bunch, who related well to each other and to their host families and all children adapted to the åswitch overπ after two weeks.  They were helped with this by the networking in the group and shared picnics and activities.

Our activities encompassed the ever popular Pizza Hut and bowling, swimming and funfair, etc and we tried out some new ones a ceildlh, walk, stately home visit with mixed success.  We hope to get more specific feedback from a questionnaire that was issued.  Meanwhile our åHow was it for youπ meeting is in our diaries as is our first fundraiser so the cycle starts again!

We are as ever grateful to all our supporters, host families and others who work so hard to give some Belarussian children a happy and healthy holiday.