Our winter newsletter is out now. You’ll find stories of hope from our projects, and ways that you can get involved. Don’t miss our online lecture from a curator at the Hermitage, Professor Alexei Leporc, or a chance to have donations boosted on Giving Tuesday. Download the full version or scroll on to read online.
Mihai is a four-year-old boy from Călărași, the youngest in a family where he is adored. A quiet, attentive child, he has a natural talent for focusing on tasks and noticing visual details that others might miss. From an early age, his parents noticed that he was developing differently from other children. After a series of
assessments, Mihai was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The diagnosis was overwhelming, but his parents faced it with courage and commitment. Since the age of three, Mihai has attended kindergarten, and twice a week he visits the Wish Centre in Călărași, where he is supported with speech therapy, occupational therapy, and educational activities tailored to his needs.
Mihai still does not speak; he makes a few sounds and reacts strongly to sudden changes or when a favourite object is taken away. He struggles to communicate and to manage his emotions, which makes specialised support essential.
Despite these challenges, Mihai has made remarkable progress. He is more attentive, follows rules better, and is learning to communicate through gestures and eye contact. His family, especially his sisters, are deeply involved in supporting him, celebrating every small success along the way.
Specialists at the Wish Centre believe that Mihai has so much to offer and that he could go even further with the right support and a few more therapy sessions each week. But with local funding dropping over the past year, it is getting harder to give kids like Mihai the help they deserve.
Thanks to the generosity of St Gregory’s donors, children at the Wish Centre have benefited from three years of free therapy — support that has made a real and lasting difference in their lives. But the need continues to grow, and we don’t want to turn any child away. There are many ways you can help us raise more funds and make a difference — here are a few ideas to get involved! Will you help us give Mihai — and children like him — the chance to shine?
Our partners, Mkurnali, provide a home and skills training for young people who have experienced homelessness. One of their most challenging tasks has been completing a loft extension. The work took much longer than anyone expected — materials have become more expensive and finding skilled craftsmen at a fair price has become increasingly difficult. But despite every setback, they never gave up. Now the loft has been completely transformed. Bright, cozy, and furnished, it stands as one of Mkurnali’s proudest achievements. The late George Guest and his group helped make it possible, and his legacy continues to inspire everyone here.
Today, British volunteer Rachel Lewis uses the large study room to support children who have fallen behind at school, helping them with their English and homework — giving the space new life and purpose. This room can also serve as temporary accommodation for families. Two residents are currently staying in two converted bedrooms nearby, and Mkurnali’s next plans include upgrading the kitchen and enclosing a small balcony.
Mkurnali is home to seven adults and five children, with two older boys visiting daily for homework. Having missed school, the boys are learning to read and write, while many adults are gaining skills and confidence through the shelter’s support.
This photo represents a touching moment in the life of Sunflower’s summer camp. Six families: mothers who grew up in children’s homes, one grandad who is raising his grandaughter, and their young children went away for six days to work on their parenting skills. This vital work helps prevent the next generation suffering from their parent’s childhood trauma.
Read more: Sunflower summer campsAt the start there was some tension. Everyone was getting used to the new conditions, and the weather meant they were all cooped up indoors. The children didn’t listen to their parents, and also didn’t turn to them when they needed help. They preferred to play on their own and would argue or run off when they were brought together. Yet, by the end of the summer camp, they shared this impromptu moment of togetherness. Tolya had found a ‘treasure’ and his friends were all eager to see what it was.
To get to this point took a lot of work, work which started right at the start of this year when the parents articulated what they wanted to get out of it. They all expressed the difficulty they had in getting their children to listen. During the six days of the camp, a key goal was to help the parents observe their children more closely, to read the signs that show what they need physically and emotionally. One mother said at the end, ‘I have begun to notice where I put pressure on my child. For now it’s difficult to do differently, but the main thing is that I notice those moments.’ Through play therapy and creative activities, the parents were helped to understand why their children refused to play with them, or got angry. Rather than mirroring their children’s behaviour, they learned ways to gently draw their children into the game.
Meanwhile, in the children’s group, the children were also encouraged to recognise and name their emotions. They began to take turns and even tried to resolve their own conflicts. When the group met up back in St Petersburg, they could all look back on many happy and creative moments. All are working hard to carry what they learned into their daily lives.
We have many ways in which you can get involved, find out more about our work, and help build a future for vulnerable children and families. Whether you’d like to shop, donate or visit our partners, we have something for you.
Each year we publish a review of our finances along with reports on how we spent the donations that we have been trusted with. Here is a short summary. For the full accounts, you can check out our Annual Report.
2024 was a challenging year due to internal and external factors. Fundraising difficulties for our Russian partner organisations, along with a growing number of retired and lapsed donors, significantly affected our income. Despite this, we fully funded our approved projects in Russia and increased support for our Moldovan and Georgian partners. The charity closed the year with a deficit of £41,061 (2023: £36,558 surplus). After asset reevaluation, the net movement of funds was £2,356 (2023: £43,778).
Despite the income decline, grants to Russia
were sent throughout the year in a fully vetted, Charity Commission-approved manner, with minimal impact on our reputation. Thank you to everyone who made our work possible. Your regular giving enables us to continue delivering life-changing support to families in Georgia, Moldova, and Russia. Every £ counts — please continue to support St Gregory’s Foundation!
Jyoti Tandel and Julia Ashmore
Our partners at Communication Space in Moscow continue their core work of teaching disabled young people to communicate. Here a communication book is enabling a chat about dinosaurs.
Excitingly, in the last year our colleagues have had the opportunity to teach others their methods. After an online training session on adapting books for non-verbal children, a specialist went away with plans to create a reading corner full of adapted books at her centre. Their teaching session at a conference on alternative communication was praised by delegates as one of the best of the conference. They continue to work too on guidelines aiming at more consistent use of alternative communication for those who need it across Russia.
If you missed our September AGM, you can still read the presentation from Ana Gorea, co-founder of Rain Kids, a small charity that works with children with special needs. She lays out how St Gregory’s grants to provide training for their staff are helping to raise standards of care.
With details of all the projects supported by St Gregory’s, this guide will show you how you can make a difference. You’ll see how your donations are helping disabled children and their families, homeless young people and young care-leavers. Together we can change lives for the better.
The main request of the Rain Kids charity in Chişinău, Moldova, was for staff training. They offer therapy to children with special needs and are acutely aware of how low the level of professional skills are in Moldova. We are funding their chief therapist, Ana Cislaru, to take an eighteen month training course to qualify her as a supervisor in ABA therapy, so that she will be able to offer training to their other staff. Due to a lack of suitable training in Moldova, the course is provided by a Romanian charity and is accessed largely online. Here Ana explains how her training helped her plan the programme of therapy for Alex. Despite a difficult start, she was able to find the key to his progress. Incidentally, the stigma attached to autism is still so high in Moldova, that many families do not want photographs of their children to be used publicly. We respect their wishes, but sincerely hope that one day autism won’t be a source of shame or embarrasment to families in Moldova.
Continue reading Find out how staff training is helping Alex