Charity urges Scots to sponsor children in developing countries AID:

A CHARITY launched a major drive yesterday to encourage more Scots to sponsor children in developing countries.

The evangelical Christian aid organisation World Vision set up a 10-ft high "Wall of Hope" in the centre of Glasgow displaying the faces of some of the many children who are in need of help.

Matt Marlow, the support and recruitment manager for World Vision, said the charity hoped that 500 sponsors in Scotland would sign up during the two-week campaign.

"We are calling for people to step forward and sponsor children who are at serious risk, " he said. "These are children that don't have the basics that children in this country are fortunate to have, such as access to clean water, medical help, nutritious food and education."

He added that the L18 a month which is donated by sponsors also benefits the wider community in which the child lives: "We don't believe in singling out one particular child, and another five children will benefit from one child being sponsored."

Among those supporting the campaign is Mary Goodhall, from Glasgow, who has been sponsoring 12year-old Emmanuel from Ghana for the past six years. She encourages her family to help as well and last year her five grandchildren gave up their Christmas presents in order to make a donation to Emmanuel's family.

Jim Whitelaw, 40, from Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, along with his wife Lorna, also 40, was inspired to sponsor eight-year-old Falston from Zimbabwe following a trip to the country two years ago.

"I was out there at the time all the troubles kicked off and it had an effect on me, seeing people made homeless and their houses knocked down, " he said. "We have got three children and it makes you realise just how fortunate your own children are."

Carol Hannah, 48, from Cumbernauld, began sponsoring 11-year-old Sureka, from Sri Lanka, two years ago. She said:

"At that point my yearly wage rise was coming in and I thought, 'I am not going to miss part of that money'.

"With a lot of charity projects you don't actually see the person you are helping. The good thing is, it is not just her and her family, but the whole community that the money goes towards."

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