AN APPEAL for the children of Sudan has continued to receive support from readers of The Basingstoke Extra.

In four weeks, £1,920 has been raised since our appeal was launched in conjunction with the charity UNICEF.

The money will not only improve living conditions for hundreds of thousands of children in refugee camps - it will also save their lives.

One million people are living in several camps throughout the region of Darfur after they were forced from their homes during conflicts between rebels and the Sudan government last year.

UNICEF is working to provide them with basic needs such as shelter, food and water.

One of the greatest threats to the survival of children living in the war-torn country is the scarcity of food, leaving many children severely malnourished.

Their emaciated bodies are so weak they cannot eat.

An emergency feeding unit in Nyala Hospital has been set up and, although thousands of children are starving, the unit can only cope with 59 babies at a time.

Every day, seven babies die of malnutrition at this unit alone.

UNICEF provides therapeutic feeding using specially formulated milk and nutrient-enriched porridge given over several weeks by trained health workers (pictured).

Just £25 is enough to provide 350 severely malnourished children with emergency therapeutic feeding supplies. David Bull, executive director of UNICEF UK, said: "Circumstances in Sudan make it very challenging, but we're on the ground doing what we can. However, we need to do more and for that we need security, access and financial support."

Mark Jones, editor of Gazette Newspapers, which publishes The Basingstoke Extra, said: "Nobody can fail to be moved by the plight of the children in Darfur.

"Gazette Newspapers has twice before worked with UNICEF to help children caught up in disasters - firstly after the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, and then during the aftermath of the war in Iraq.

"We hope that our readers will respond with the same generosity that they showed on those occasions."

If you would like to make a donation to the Gazette Newspapers/UNICEF Children of Sudan Appeal, please send it along with the coupon that can be downloaded from this website to Gazette Newspapers/UNICEF Children of Sudan Appeal, FREEPOST, Billericay, CM12 OBR.