THE CHICKS charity for underprivileged children hosted its 8,000th child, thanks to long-term sponsorship by the Wrigley Company.

Each year, CHICKS — Country Holidays for Inner City Kids — provides holidays for children from all over the UK who would otherwise never get the opportunity to escape their disadvantaged home lives for a respite break.

The children come from a variety of backgrounds — those living in poverty, children being neglected or abused, either mentally, physically or sexually, children who have lost parents and even children who are full-time young carers. By the end of this year the Brentor-based charity will have helped more than 8,000 children.

The Wrigley Company, in Plymouth was delighted to adopt CHICKS as its charity of choice in 2005 and this year sponsored half of the respite breaks.

To mark the 8,000th child to have been supported by CHICKS, since the charity began in 1992, Gareth Streeter, communications manager at Wrigley presented a certificate to the 8,000th child, a 10-year-old from Hull, to holiday at a CHICKS camp.

Lauren Kleinstuber, consumer and corporate affairs co-ordinator at Wrigley said: 'We relish these opportunities to get involved and support CHICKS. Over the years we have contributed to all sorts of team-building and fundraising events in support of them and it is great that we have been able to support so many children this year.'

Jenny Paton at CHICKS said: 'We are once again thrilled to have the support of the Wrigley Company. We aim to provide a variety of stimulating and exciting experiences for the children and it is wonderful that some of the staff are able to dedicate some of their time to the children.'