THE battle to save the lives of two desperately ill young children will be taking place in the borough on Sunday. Park Lane Methodist Church in Park Lane, Wembley, will be hosting a recruitment drive to find the persons with a vital bone marrow match for

THE battle to save the lives of two desperately ill young children will be taking place in the borough on Sunday.

Park Lane Methodist Church in Park Lane, Wembley, will be hosting a recruitment drive to find the persons with a vital bone marrow match for Tabo Chibfa, four, and two-year-old Nevaeh Green.

The African and Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT), a charity that spearheads the fight to recruit more BME donors, is hosting the event.

The tots are both suffering from leukaemia and need a bone marrow transplant if they are to survive.

However, the odds of finding a match for a person from the Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) community are one in 100,000 compared to one in five for their white counterparts.

Rev Bob Pritchard, minister of Park Lane Methodist Church, said after hearing about the two youngsters' plight he felt compelled to help.

He added: "Twice in my life, I have been told, I have only days to live, prayer and medical drugs, found a way.

"To be able to give a donation, for another life must be very fulfilling, if you have a chance to give, it could be life changing."

Tabo was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in July 2009 but suffered a relapse in January this year leaving him clinging to the hope of a bone marrow transplant as his only chance of survival.

Little Nevaeh's family received the devastating news that she was suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia on New Year's Eve.

Her parents are struggling to come to terms with her illness and are praying that the friendly, bubbly, happy, independent and articulate little girl will make a full recovery and go on to live a normal happy life.

Beverley De-Gale, co-founded ACLT with her partner Orin Lewis in 1996 after their son Daniel was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1993.

At that time the statistics for finding a bone marrow match for a BME person were one in 250,000 as just 550 people from the community were on the register.

Today they are around 30,000 thanks to ACLT's tireless work.

She said many people from the BME population fail to join the register because of misinformation including the totally untrue belief that your details will be transferred to the National DNA database.

Ms De-Gale said: "That is not the case at all. There are no excuses, please make the time to save a life.

"Wembley stadium holds 100,000 spectators. Imagine if you had to find that needle in a haystack - one in 100,000 to save your life or the life of a loved one!

"Please do not allow the myths about blood and bone marrow donation stop you from coming forward to this session and getting the facts about how YOU could save a life!"

The recruitment drive is taking place at Park Lane Methodist Church in Park Lane, Wembley, on Sunday between 12pm to 5pm.

Anyone of any race in good health and aged between 18 to 49-years-old can join the register.

For more information about ACLT call 020 8240 4480, email info@aclt.org or visit www.aclt.org