A Bradford aid worker is hoping to play fairy godmother to a Romanian orphan - by finding her a white wedding gown for her big day.

And Nora Kilcoyne, of Sandy Lane, hopes the story of orphan Eugenia Avram will touch the heart of Telegraph & Argus readers who could help her wave the magic wand.

Mrs Kilcoyne is planning her 13th trip to Romania this summer where she works with needy children in hospitals and orphanages.

The trip in August will be special as she will also be a guest at the wedding of 21-year-old Eugenia, an orphan she met years ago on one of her first trips to the deprived Eastern European country.

She befriended Eugenia when she was just a nine-year-old girl - and is thrilled to bits with the happy ending to her story. Her young friend has blossomed and now herself works with tragic children who have become infected with the Aids virus. Although she has no relatives of her own, she has been given a warm welcome by her fiance's large family.

Mrs Kilcoyne said: "I first met Eugenia when she was nine or ten years old and she was living in the orphanage. I have kept in touch with her all these years and I was a bit of a mother figure to her. We still write to each other regularly.

"I am really pleased she is getting married, I have met her fiance and his family. She really wants a white wedding but she can't afford a dress. They are very expensive in Romania and she just doesn't have the money.

"There must be plenty of people who have got one at the back of their wardrobe and don't know what to do with it."

Eugenia is to be married in a church near Constanta on the Black Sea on Saturday, August 22.

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