BOLTON children are destined to be losers in the lottery of life from the moment they are born. Simply being born in Bolton is enough to blight a baby's chances of leading a successful life and could result in them suffering profoundly for the rest of their lives. The claims have been made by the Children's Society which says the odds are stacked against local youngsters from day one.

Among other misfortunes, they say, Bolton born children are more likely to be underweight at birth, die young, miss out in school and end up criminals than other places in the country.

Now the leading national charity has launched an emotional campaign pleading with people in more affluent areas to help turn Bolton children into winners.

A "Lottery Scandal" map has been produced which ranks Bolton number 38 out of 59 towns which need help because they have the highest concentration of disadvantaged children in Britain.

It warns chillingly: "Children, through no fault of their own, who are born, live and go to school in these areas may suffer profoundly for the rest of their lives." People who live in the great swathes of the country generally unaffected by poverty are urged to make a donation of £15 or above to support the charity's work.

A family support centre in New Bury, Farnworth is among 90 Children's Society projects to help vulnerable children caught in the poverty trap.

According to the charity, a quarter of babies born in the blackspots highlighted on their map will start life underweight and are twice as likely to die in childhood accidents. Older children are more likely to play truant, leave school without any qualifications, become schoolgirl mums or turn to crime in later life.

The charity tells potential donors: "Where you happen to be born can have a profound effect on the rest of your life.

"Being born in the wrong place can extinguish every opportunity a child may have in life. It should not be a lottery."

Bolton MP Brian Iddon agreed that many local children suffer from poverty, unfit housing and poor health which blights their education and chances in life.

He said : "It is very, very tragic but I am not surprised because the evidence has been there for about 20 years and the council is well aware that some wards in Bolton are among the most deprived in the country.

"There has been a lack of resources to tackle these problems in the past but this Government is committed to ending social exclusion and work has already started.

"However it will take a few years to change the situation.

"It may be too late to help today's children but hopefully we can improve the situation for future generations."

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