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What do you do when a dozen needy children and their helpers from the Ukraine need transport for a week and you only have enough for half of them? The answer for Selsey resident Sarah Phillips was simple – you ask your boss for the use of the company mini-bus for a week. Checkatrade founder Kevin Byrne’s reply was equally simple – a resounding “YES!”

Said Sarah, “I was thrilled when Kevin said yes to lending us the minibus, but did not expect Checkatrade to not only organise the insurance but pay for it as well. We are deeply grateful and thank them for all their help.”

Every year, Sarah and firefighter husband Andy give up a week of their annual leave to travel back to their former Essex home to coordinate seven days of fun for the children affected by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, run by the Billericay Link of the Chernobyl Children's Life Line. The children, aged between 9 and 11, take part in various activities, including sports, arts and crafts and trips to amusement parks and the beach. They are billeted with families throughout the area, where they get the chance to eat, drink and breathe healthily, many for the first time in their lives.  The soil and air in parts of the Ukraine and Belarus are still very contaminated and affects even the most basic necessities for living. The Chernobyl Children's Life Line estimates that one month in clean fresh air, eating uncontaminated food, boosts the children’s immune systems for 3 to 5 years, with many never going back to the poor levels of immunity they first showed.

Sarah and Andy have been involved with the Billericay Link for eight years since its inception. When they moved to West Sussex four years ago, they decided that, as there was no local Link near their new home, they would continue doing as much as they could for the children through the Billericay Link. Through the years many of the children have kept in contact with people who have helped on the holidays, including Sarah and Andy, via letters, email and occasionally even the phone. As a result of these links, Sarah and Andy opened their West Sussex home to two of the children they helped, and given them a holiday at their own expense. As Sarah explains “The children can only have one holiday paid for by the Lifeline charity as there are so many to help. We have seen the good that comes from such “time out” of the polluted area.” Sarah goes on, “Many host families do the same thing. Paying for another holiday for an affected child is a small price to pay to see the pleasure and benefits they derive from it. We have been humbled by the joy they get from the simplest of activities, things that we take for granted, like a walk along a beach. It is the reason that people involved in the Chernobyl Children's Life Line help year after year.”

Checkatrade helps combat the UK's rogue trader problem by continuously vetting and monitoring local traders such as builders, plumbers and electricians. The idea was born in 1998 after a tornado hit the small West Sussex town of Selsey. Traders poured in from as far away as Liverpool and Manchester. Unfortunately, some ripped off the inhabitants of the town. Local businessman, Kevin Byrne, realised there was nowhere to check out the traders’ credentials and the company that became Checkatrade was formed.

Since then, Checkatrade has grown to include over 6,300 genuine trade members, growing by an average 120 new members every month, and, via the Royal Mail, distributes 5.9 million directories a year into communities throughout Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Dorset and Berkshire, while the website includes traders from across the UK.

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