A SOUTH Somerset man has spoken of his work as chairman of an international charity helping some of the most impoverished children in the world.

Martin Shirley, from Knowle St Giles near Chard, is chairman of the Dhaka Ahsania Mission UK (DAM UK), which aims to help and support vulnerable children and adults who live on the streets of poverty-stricken Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Mr Shirley started volunteering at the charity in 2002 and the charity has gained the backing of both Sport Relief and Comic Relief.

The charity and its work was featured on national television programme the One Show on the BBC, in which presenter Alex Jones visited Bangladesh and one of the charity’s shelters, and also spent a day with two of the charity’s users as they scoured the streets for litter they could sell.

In the shocking footage, the two children, who were aged 10, earned 27p a day collecting the rubbish, and were forced to sleep on the streets at night.

Mr Shirley, who has now taken on the role of chairman of the charity, said: “I worked in Bangladesh when it was a newly-liberated country, and have been involved with the Dhaka Ahsania Mission UK charity since 2002.

“Sport Relief funds our drop-in centres in Dhaka for street children, who earn a hazardous living in occupations such as litter-picking.

“One of the centres was visited and filmed by Alex Jones of the One Show last month, to help show people in this country the kind of work that Sport Relief supports.”

Mr Shirley is now encouraging residents to donate to the charity when the show is on this Friday.

The charity, which has two drop-in centres in the capital, looks after around 150 children a day.

The centres provide a place of safety and support, and give food, hygiene facilities and somewhere to sleep.

It is an organisation that is constantly needing money, and will benefit greatly from all of the money raised during Sport Relief, which takes place this weekend.

As part of her mission, Alex Jones has also taken on a gruelling mission to raise funds for the charities.

She battled storm force winds and icy temperatures as she sailed around the coast of the United Kingdom earlier this month.

For more information on Spot Relief, or to donate to the cause, log on to sportrelief.com/schools/secondary/learning-resources.