May 2025 - St Gregory's Foundation

80 Moldovan families receive food parcels

Posted on 5th May 20255th May 2025 By Sarah.SGF

St Gregory’s supports Rain Kids, a charity in Chişinău, Moldova, providing therapy for children with developmental disabilities. Disability often goes hand in hand with poverty in Moldova, not least because one parent often has to give up work to care full time. With inflation of 8.8%, making ends meet this year has become particularly difficult.

With St Gregory’s funding, Rain Kids has stepped in to provide food parcels for 80 of their families. Food parcels include essentials like rice, buckwheat, wheat and corn flour, canned fish, sunflower oil and more. There are also some treats—wafers, buns, and biscuits—to bring a little joy to the kids. Domestic cleaning products are included, helping families create a healthier space for their children. The thank you letters from parents show just how much this has meant to them.

Kirill can’t stop smiling

Posted on 5th May 20255th May 2025 By Sarah.SGF

The first thing you probably noticed about this photo is Kirill’s smile. He loves being with people, but since he left school he had spent most of his time at home with very little company. The reason is that Kirill has autism and learning difficulties and cannot speak. Fortunately, he is able to attend activities at Communication Space, the charity centre in Moscow that we sponsor. Now he starts smiling as soon as he gets on the bus to go to a session at the Centre.

When Kirill was at school, his teachers had tried to introduce him to the PECS symbolic language, but without success. They concluded that he wasn’t able to tell one symbol from another.

At Communication Space he didn’t seem interested in the pictures to start with, but gradually he learned to recognise the symbols for food, games and other activities. If he got upset, his teachers would introduce the symbol for that emotion, and so he increased his vocabulary.

Mkurnali fights to help Vlad continue his studies

Posted on 5th May 20255th May 2025 By Sarah.SGF

In Tbilisi, Georgia, we continue to support Mkurnali’s legal programme and the shelter that truly feels like home for former street children and families. Inga, a lawyer who defends young people in court, shared Vlad’s story, and Nino, Mkurnali’s director sent us news about the shelter.

Vlad, one of Mkurnali’s beneficiaries, reached out for Inga’s help. He signed up for vocational school but got accused of faking his high school diploma because of missing official stamps and a strange signature. His old school had merged with another, making things harder to confirm.

Change to this year’s summer camps

Posted on 5th May 20255th May 2025 By Sarah.SGF

Mother and toddler daughter painting together

On April 20, volunteers from “Sunflower” headed to Dolbeniki and got to work cleaning up the site, including the kitchen, fire pit, and bathhouse. While there, they ran into a big problem: the small pond that had always provided water for showers, the bathhouse, and dishwashing had dried up. Drinking water was always brought in from a nearby village, but without the pond, there’s no way to get enough water for a group—especially families. Talks are ongoing with the site owners to figure out solutions. One idea is drilling a well, but it’s tricky because water layers are deep in the Valdai Hills, and finding a reliable source could mean multiple expensive attempts.

Sponsors offer wine discount to our supporters

Posted on 5th May 20255th May 2025 By Sarah.SGF

Photo by Kelsey Knight on Unsplash People clinking wine glasses

Georgian Wine Club, a valued supporter of St Gregory’s Foundation, is offering a special 10% discount for our supporters—use code SGF10.

Georgian Wine Club is an online boutique offering a curated selection of premium Georgian wines, sourced from respected wineries. From bold Saperavi reds to crisp Rkatsiteli whites and traditional qvevri-aged wines, it showcases Georgia’s 8,000 years of winemaking heritage. With a secure online store, they ship across the UK (excluding Northern Ireland), connecting wine lovers with rare, handcrafted bottles which can rarely be found in high street shops.

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Charity Ball in Chişinău

Posted on 5th May 20255th May 2025 By Sarah.SGF

Our very active partners at Sunny Corner in Moldova are putting together another wonderful event to promote inclusion for people with learning disabilities.

On June 8th, they’re hosting a charity ball at the Chișinău Arena. The venue is fully adapted for people with disabilities, and Sunny Corner has invited more than 120 participants, including people with special needs and their peers aged 8 to 45, as well as parents, carers, teachers, and more from across Moldova, Ukraine, and Romania.

Participants’ performances will be accompanied by the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Moldova. Local and national authorities will be attending too. Additionally, for the first time, an auction will be held to raise funds for their “Dream Manor,” which provides training programmes to enhance the quality of life for individuals with special needs.

St. Gregory’s is proud to be contributing to this memorable event.

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Month: May 2025