BLACKPOOL priest the Rev Malcolm Worsley is on a mercy mission to Brazil this Easter in a bid to help 2,000 street children, many of whom are forced into prostitution at just ten years old.

A former Fleetwood social worker, Mr Worsley is director of the Blackpool-based Christian counselling charity The Philippi Trust, which was established 12 years ago.

The charity has four centres in the UK -- including one on Sherbourne Road in Blackpool -- and works extensively in South Africa dealing with the AIDS crisis, as well as travelling all over Western Europe.

Mr Worsley, 63, who is curate at St John the Evangelist in Little Thornton, will spend eight days in Fortaleza in Northern Brazil.

He said: "I am going out to help voluntary and professional workers understand the vicious cycle that the street children find themselves in. In particular I will be training people to listen carefully to the children and to be able to develop a safe relationship with them.

"They get into prostitution at a very young age, then they are tempted to numb their traumatic experiences through drug and alcohol abuse, so they have to stay in prostitution to fund their habit."

The crucial difference to Mr Worsley's work is that he tries to help communities help themselves by providing training that can be passed on and put to good use long after he has returned home.

The Philippi Trust is financed entirely by voluntary donations and although Mr Worsley's airfare has been met by a benefactor, they have yet to raise funds for vital training manuals for the mission.

Anyone interested in supporting the work of The Philippi Trust can call 621859.

TRAINING: The Rev Malcolm Worsley