St Gregory’s Foundation is a UK registered charity founded in 1991. Our goal is to help charities in Russia and the former Soviet Union support the most vulnerable in their communities.

Our members and directors have different backgrounds and beliefs, but all of them are passionate about their involvement with St Gregory’s.  In the UK we have one full-time employee, Julia Ashmore.  We rely greatly on the generosity of our directors and volunteers who help in many ways including with fundraising, translating.

We work directly with our local partners in Russia and Georgia.  This helps us to have a clearer focus on the needs of children, teenagers and families at risk and to know what their difficulties and achievements are. This also enables us to be more effective in our direct funding of projects and to spend less on administration. Previously, we operated via our sister organisation PDD – our colleagues moved to another European project introducing new standards for physical rehabilitation in Russia.

As our name suggests, our founders were Christians. Our contacts within the Russian Orthodox Church, and particularly the blessing of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (the late head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the UK), opened doors to us and introduced us to valued colleagues.  However we only work with partners who provide aid to those in need irrespective of religious, ethnic or political background.