We are delighted that on 13th October our Patron, His Royal Highness, Prince Michael of Kent, visited the Sunflower Centre in St Petersburg to find out about their flagship programmes at first hand. The Sunflower Centre focuses on providing psychological support for parents who grew up in orphanages and for teenagers leaving orphanages in St. Petersburg.
With our support, since 2007 Sunflower has helped over 650 teenagers and young parents, 300 families in crisis and 200 foster families with teenagers. Sunflower’s annual programmes help them bond with their children, find jobs, sustain relationships and integrate into society. Over the last few years, Sunflower has provided training to over 2,000 specialists who work with orphanage-leavers. His Royal Highness visited at a very important moment – the Centre is working hard to spread their expertise of supporting orphans and foster families to other regions across Russia as far as Novosibirsk.
His Royal Highness met Elena Sukhorukova, the Centre’s Director and Sunflower’s dynamic team, families and young people in their care. His Royal Highness also welcomed the permanent partners and local sponsors from RESO-Garantia insurance company. The visit gave young people and families valuable encouragement and for the Sunflower Centre an opportunity to highlight their work and communicate their ambitions to a wider audience. Our colleagues were honoured by HRH Prince Michael’s visit and we are truly grateful to him for taking such a lively interest in our work and for his wonderful support over the years.
