TWO West Kirby teenagers are trying to attract sponsorship to help them get to Thailand to spend a month working with disabled orphans - writes Justin Dunn.

Marcel Deer, 18, and girlfriend Lauren Avery, 16, need help to pay for flights and accommodation for their month-long trip to Pakkred, just north of the Thai capital Bangkok.

Pakkred is the only institution of its kind in Thailand, home to around 3,000 physically and mentally disabled orphans.

The couple were moved to help the children after Lauren's family adopted her little brother, eight-year-old Joshua, from the home last year.

The orphanage itself is Government run, but it is assisted by Christian Care for Children with Disabilities - a Thailand-based charity set up by ex-pats in 1998.

CCD manages a rehabilitation centre called Rainbow House, which is where Joshua had been living before the Averys adopted him.

The couple need to raise £1,500 between them to cover their travel and accommodation. West Kirby restaurants Slinky Burns and Terazz have already donated cash to the pair's fund.

Marcel told the Globe: "We have also done a sponsored walk and organised a charity gig to raise cash but we still have a long way to go.

"We will working mainly at Rainbow House, which has about 30 children. Its aim is provide a caring family environment where children are helped to overcome their disabilities.

"The aim is to reunite them with their own family again, or to find an adoptive family for them, which is what happened with Joshua."

Care for disabled people is minimal in Thailand and the stigma surrounding disability results in many disabled children being abandoned by their families.

The centre also had to cope with a number of disabled children who were made orphans after the Boxing Day tsunami disaster.

q Anyone wishing to help should contact the Globe either by ringing 906 3053, or by emailing globe.editorial@wirral-globe.co.uk.