A MEDICAL graduate has launched a campaign to help polio sufferers watch this summer’s World Cup on television, after a life-changing trip to Sierra Leone.

Adam Wright, from Wilpshire, has just returned from a three-month trip to the west African republic, as part of a volunteer mission with Community Action for Human Security, which campaigns for human rights.

The organisation’s main aim is to support women and children who are victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, and the 24-year-old visited several schools in the northern city of Makeni, to raise awareness about the country’s improved justice system.

But the Warrenside Close resident also visited an encampment of polio sufferers, who had been harassed and ostracised because of their illness.

People in the camp had been trying to launch a project to buy a television, chairs and fans to create a mini-cinema, so that football-mad residents can watch their favourite European clubs, as well the World Cup.

Adam, who recently completed a masters degree in medical virology and works at the Emporium restaurant in Clitheroe, added: “More importantly, it would bring in people from outside the camp and allow them to watch football with the polio sufferers. It would then reduce the divide and make it less likely that people with disabilities would be ostracised from the town’s community.”

The Blackburn Rovers fan and other British volunteers agreed to help the camp raise £2,000 to complete the project, and he is trying to organise a non-uniform day at Pleckgate High, his old school in Blackburn, to support the campaign.

He said: “People over there absolutely love football and they’re probably even more passionate than the fans here. The whole trip was a great experience and it’s great to be involved in something that could improve things for people.”

He said the group had raised £275 and had a reliable contact working for VSO, who would ensure all the money reached the polio camp. To help email Adam at adamw02@hotmail.com