A charity is appealing for runners to take part in a 145 mile race across the Sahara Desert to raise money to help children in Africa.

Facing Africa hopes to raise cash by encouraging British competitors to enter the annual Marathon des Sables, a 145 miles race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco which lasts six days in temperatures of 120 degrees F.

Allan Thom, a consultant at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead set up the charity three years ago with his friend Chris Lawrence to help children in Africa suffering from the Noma disease which leads to life-threatening facial deformities.

The disease begins with ulcers in the mouth which, if caught in the early stages, can be cured with antibiotics and nourishment.

If left untreated the ulcer proceeds at an alarming rate and gangrene sets in, creating a hole in the face. There are 500,000 victims world-wide and only one in ten survive the condition.

Those that do survive are treated as social outcasts because of their terrible deformities. But with surgery their faces can be can reconstructed.

Mr Thom wants the Facing Africa charity to build up a specialist team based around the Queen Victoria Hospital, where he has worked for 22 years.

Earlier this month the charity spent £30,000 to send out its first surgeon who will spend two weeks helping sufferers.

Peter Aycliffe, one of the hospital's maxilio-facial surgeons, has joined a Dutch team in the Northern Nigerian town of Sokoto where he will operate on 70 child victims.

Mr Thom said: "I feel with a little money and our expertise we have something to offer to improve the quality of life for these children.

"No-one else in Britian is involved in this area of aid, although there is a strong European presence helping sufferers in Nigeria."

The charity has established links in Africa and one of its aims is to build a recovery unit at a children's hospital in Sokoto. The other is to get British specialists out there helping with treatment.

The disease progresses at an alarming rate because children are under nourished and there are no mouthwashes or antibiotics. Also, too often the symptoms are not recognised earlier enough leaving surgery as the only hope for the few who survive.

Donations for Facing Africa can be sent to Seend Park, Seend, Wiltshire, SN12 6NZ.