A CHURCH group is putting on a production of 'Oliver!' in a bid to ensure African children can have some more' of life's essentials.

Based on Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist, the musical is being held at Barley Methodist Church, Main Street, starring children from the church's Sunday school.

And while the musical will see Oliver utter the famous line, "Please sir, I want some more," producers have no intention of denying the children of West Africa in the same way Oliver Twist was.

Instead, they are aiming to raise over £1,000 to provide staff and equipment for a skills training centre that is being built in the Cilan district of Sierra Leone.

The African connection was initially established late in 2005 when two of the Barley Methodist Church congregation became involved with relief works in Sierra Leone as it tried to rebuild after a decade of civil war.

The Cilan district, on the border with Liberia and Guinea, was badly hit during the conflict and the new centre will provide children and young people in the area with essential life skills such as joinery, bricklaying and plumbing.

Mark Raynor, a 43-year-old joiner from Pasture Lane, Roughlee, is one of the driving forces behind the fundraising effort after getting involved through a regional Methodist support group He is motivated by the devastation he witnessed in Africa earlier this year.

Mr Raynor spent three weeks in January helping with initial construction efforts at the centre along with friend and fellow Barley church goer Lorraine Goldsborough.

He said: "Conditions out there are fairly dire. There's no active sanitation, no electricity and while clean drinking water is available in most parts, it's not available everywhere.

"When we got over to Sierra Leone there was nothing and we were helping put up the shutters and putting in place the concrete foundations that form the base of the structure.

"We are really committed to this project and will hopefully get out there again to see how things are going on.

"We just hope that the production of Oliver will provide enough money to get the necessary staff it needs."

Oliver is running every night from 7pm this week and Mr Raynor said the 15 children involved in it, ranging from four to 14-years-of-age, have all been made aware of what they are hoping to achieve with the musical.

"They are aware of the fact that it is raising money. They get a lot out of it and they are doing good for someone else at the same time," he added.