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.
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.
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.
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.
Georgian Wine Club, a valued supporter of St Gregory’s Foundation, is offering a special 10% discount for our supporters—use codeSGF10.
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.
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.
Would you like to help shape the future of St Gregory’s Foundation? We are looking for at least one additional trustee to help run and guide our charity as we enter a new phase of our work. We are looking for individuals who share our values of supporting others, and who will enjoy the unique challenges that governing a small charity brings.
Once again, Mkurnali have been able to step in a provide a legal defence for a young formerly homeless man. Without their help he could have been imprisoned for four years.
The story started for Mkurnali when some of the homeless young people they help tried to get hold of their friend Yuri, who had also been helped by Mkurnali in the past. When his phone was out of action for some time, they got worried and asked us for help. This is when we found out that Yuri had been arrested on charges of theft.
April is World Autism Acceptance Month. In the UK we have made a shift from the usual awareness month to an acceptance month, and that is important. Of course autistic people around the world want other people to be aware of autism, but they also want to be accepted as part of the community, and as who they are.
However, in many parts of the world a great deal of work still needs to be done on awareness and the most basic rights for autistic people. In Eastern Europe, autism is still a new diagnosis and support within the community can be very patchy. In Moldova autistic children are often not able to attend school. There is little or no understanding of their needs, so if they do attend they find school very tough. We work with two organisations that are filling the gap, providing therapy and education for children who would otherwise be unsupported. They can also advocate for children with local schools so that they can attend, albeit sometimes part-time or with their mother acting as an unpaid classroom assistant.
In Russia we work with Communication Space to raise awareness of alternative communication methods that can work with non-verbal autistic children and young people. Those who attend their own centre are a wonderful advert for this approach. They are learning to express their wishes, to follow instructions, and to communicate out in the world, in shops and cafes. Online training sessions spread the approach to parents and professionals across the Russian-speaking world. Alongside this practical work, Communication Space also runs counselling sessions for parents. For them, acceptance is the first step towards a more positive outlook on life.
We hope that these small steps towards greater awareness, understanding and support will in time lead to greater acceptance in the communities we work in and beyond.
