SATURDAY PEOPLE

QUIETLY devoting her life to others, Nora Marsh has touched many families with her kindness at home and aa far away as Russia. She talks to PAULINE HAWKINS about the charity close to her heart.

CHILDREN have played an important part in the life of Nora Marsh, even though she has none of her own.

As a midwife, she delivered many babies in the Blackburn area -- some of whom will now have children and grandchildren of their own.

When she was in her 20s, she and her mother opened their home to Miss Marsh's six-year-old niece after the girl's parents died within a short time of each other. Miss Marsh also looked after youngsters in a church creche for 25 years.

Then in 1992, aged 69, she flew to Russia and the Ukraine with a Christian group from Blackburn and Mellor to deliver Russian language New Testaments, medical supplies, clothing, food and toys with the Lancashire-based charity International Aid Trust.

One of her most memorable moments was seeing the look of delight on a little girl's face when she handed her a doll. Miss Marsh, of Colenso Road, Blackburn, remembered: "The doll had been given to me to take, but it was a bit shabby and its hair was spoiled. "I don't like sewing, but I can embroider and knit so I knitted it an outfit and fastened wool down its head for hair.

"This little girl was looking at it, but we couldn't communicate with each other. She put her hands out and her mother was trying to tell her no, they couldn't pay for it. Then I indicated I was giving it to her and she was so thrilled. It was lovely to see her little face."

Miss Marsh's trip to Russia and the Ukraine was only her second abroad -- the first was in 1963 when she went to Scandinavia to observe a nursing fellowship.

"I wasn't bitten by the travel bug," she said.

But the thought that she could help other people spurred her into volunteering after she spotted a notice at her local church, Revidge Fold United Reformed Church, advertising a slide show and talk about a previous visit to Russia and the Ukraine. When one of the speakers asked the meeting: "When was the last time you did something new for God?" the words stuck in her mind and she decided to make the journey.

Other members of the 57-strong team supported and encouraged her and, by the time they flew home eight days later, a bond had been forged with her colleagues.

"When we parted at the airport, people were in tears," Miss Marsh said.

The team visited orphanages in Moscow and Chernobyl, distributing clothes and toys to the children collected by the International Aid Trust. The charity, based in Withnell, has charity shops across East Lancashire, including Queen Street in Great Harwood and Duckworth Street, Darwen. Foreign secretary Jack Straw opened the charity's newest shop in Mill Hill last week. During her visit Miss Marsh was struck by the hardship faced by some of the families in poorer regions.

"They were queuing up for things like lettuce," she said. "I didn't see anything awful, although I was expecting something like Romania. I would have gone again, but I was heavily involved with the church and I was a serving elder, visiting old folk. "I would recommend it to younger people -- it really opens your eyes."

Miss Marsh, who retired from nursing at 57, lives with her rescue dog Jamie and both are popular. Her observations on life, natural surroundings and relationships with God have formed the basis of a book of poems called Here and Now, which is on sale to raise money for the International Aid Trust -- her latest effort to help the poor and needy.

Proceeds from the sale of the book -- £7.99 from the trust's shops -- will help the charity's work in Belarus and the Ukraine. Children are treated to holidays by the Black Sea and assistance goes to families caught up in the Chernobyl disaster as many second and third generation children are born malformed.

To find out about the charity call 01254 832333.