DOZENS of young people gripped by drug addiction in one of the most desperate corners of the world are to receive the help they need -- thanks to an East Lancashire charity champion.

More than £40,000 was raised in the memory of Christine Cocker, who died last October after an 18-month battle against cancer.

Christine and her husband Bernard, of Pleasant View, Brinscall, had dedicated 11 years of their life to building up the charity International Aid Trust, which they began after an evangelicals' visit to the former USSR.

Thousands of needy people around the world now benefit from the charity which has fund-raising shops in Blackburn, Great Harwood and Darwen. More than 2,600 Eastern European children a year now benefit from holidays to the charity's holiday camp in Myaki, on the Black Sea Coast. Many of the children who visit the camp, a former Soviet boot camp, are the children of couples poisoned when the Ukrainian Chernobyl nuclear reactor went into meltdown in 1986, killing thousands and turning hundreds of miles of land into barren wasteland.

Another fallout of the nuclear disaster has been a collapse in the Ukraine's economy, leaving most people unemployed and struggling to survive on state benefits which total just $10 a month.

This has resulted in many people turning to drugs, being easy prey for dealers who take advantage of the desperate situation.

But now people in the Ukraine are being offered a second chance -- thanks to the money raised in memory of Christine.

Bernard said: "People from across the world who know of our work and what Christine did have sent donations in to us.

"All in all, it came to £40,000 and we have used most of it to open a drug rehabilitation unit in the Ukraine called Christina's House. It basically gives young people a second chance. I have visited them and they all say they started smoking cannabis and gradually moved on to harder drugs as a sort of escapism.

"They were easy prey for the drug dealers in the country, because they were so desperate.

"To fund their habit, they would steal. Everyone that has come into the centre has wanted to stop, but until now they have never had the chance."

Bernard said: "Christine's death involved me shedding many tears and going through torture watching her die, but it strengthened my resolve to keep helping as many people as we possibly can.

"The £40,000 touched me immensely because it showed what high regard people held her in. Her memory can live on and she is remembered by so many people for the work she did before she went to a better place."

The first person to benefit from the centre has now taken up a job with a local church. Bernard travelled out to meet the man, called Segie, earlier this year.

He said: "It is wonderful to see what our work can do."

This year alone, International Aid Trust has delivered aid to 28 countries -- most of it being donated by local businesses and people.

As well as opening the drug rehabilitation centre in the Ukraine, the £40,000 has also been spent on creating new family homes where two adults will live with up to 12 children.

Bernard added: "By taking children from across Eastern Europe to this camp, we can help kick-start the local economy.

"That enables large families to have a better standard of life and has a knock-on effect across the whole area."