Orphanage-leavers still need our help

Posted on By Sarah.SGF
Vlad, an orphanage-leaver, takes part in summer camp in the forest.

Vlad started coming to our support group for orphanage-leavers in St Petersburg a year ago with his friend, Boris. From the start he engaged really well with all the activities. Our colleagues invited him to take part in the summer camp, which he did with enthusiasm. Again, he took part in everything, was very helpful and was very open in all discussions.

Vlad knew that he could stay in touch over the summer. A few weeks after the camp, our colleagues got a call from him to say that he was moving out into his own flat. He said, “Everything’s fine. I just walk around and admire my place.” Over the next few weeks he kept in touch and was looking forward to restarting the group sessions in September.

So when September came, it was a surprise to our colleagues when Vlad didn’t appear and stopped taking calls. They got in touch with his college, who said that everything was fine and that he was going to classes and living at their hostel now.

Continue reading Orphanage-leavers still need our help

Continuing to help the vulnerable

Posted on By Sarah.SGF

Thank you to all everyone who has sent us messages of support at this difficult time.  Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with those suffering in this humanitarian crisis.  We are not in a position to meet their needs directly, but we will be donating half the proceeds from our next fundraising event to Save the Children’s Ukraine appeal.  We chose Save the Children because of their experience in responding to crisis situations and our shared focus on children and families.

Meanwhile, we continue to support our projects in Russia, conscious that the very vulnerable people we help will be hit very hard by the current inflation.  We are proud of our long-lasting and fruitful relationships with our partners.  The work we have done together has always been, and continues to be, resolutely a-political. 

At present we continue to have a limited number of ordinary bank payment routes open to us.  If those are closed by sanctions, we will explore other legal avenues to ensure donations reach our projects. We are speaking to the Charity Commission for guidance.  We will always keep you informed if our situation changes.