Share Charity News

Greetings to all the supporters of SHARE!

We have had a great year and there is good news to report on all our projects.

THE STUDENT PROJECT

Last summer five third year Occupational Therapy students and two Physiotherapy students travelled to Sibiu, Romania to work in the Centre for children with very complex disabilities SHARE has been supporting. Between them they were there for eight weeks.

There were many things that the students found difficult. The carers were not trained to use the resources in the Centre correctly, they didn’t know how to teach the children daily living skills. They are poorly paid and there aren’t enough of them. Children were left alone for long periods of time with little or no stimulation so that they rocked to and fro just like the children we saw in the orphanages all those years ago.

For the eight weeks that the students were working in the Centre the children had access to the sensory room and the many games and activities available at the Centre that were normally locked away in cupboards.

Here are some of the reflections written by the students:

Chloe wrote: “I am thrilled I had the opportunity to work voluntarily in Romania and only hope that no matter how small, I was able to have some lasting effect”

Tom, one of the physios wrote: “Working for three weeks at the Centre in Sibiu was a life changing experience…. every time I think of the children in the Centre I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am”

Anne Marie wrote: “At times I felt annoyed and upset by the carer’s attitudes and the environment however I also experienced lots of positive feelings, joys and happiness when making a child smile and laugh”.

And finally Sophie wrote: “Overall the trip to Romania has changed me in many ways since I have returned to England
and I am very grateful for having the opportunity. It wasn’t easy but I was ready for the challenge and I strongly hope to return to the Centre”.

Sophie is returning in September to carry out research for her Masters degree. There are 7 more Occupational Therapy (OT) students going through July and August this year along with an OT lecturer from Coventry University.

We have donated money to the Centre this year to purchase a new lock for the outside gate. Back in November the Director had to sack the security guard because of the lack of funds and so there was no one to stop the children getting out onto the busy road outside. The new lock allows staff to come and go using a key card.

All public service workers in Romania have had to take a 25% cut in salary and on top of that they have had an increase in tax. Carers at the Centre earn less than £3,000 per annum.

THE DACIA PROJECT

Jane and Martin travelled to Dresden in February to attend a meeting and support Frank Roth who runs the Cross of Nails project in Dacia. They are pictured here presenting a cheque for £2,000 to the Finance Director of the Diakonie to enable Frank to continue his valuable work.

Jane and Jan visited DACIA in July last year and had an amazing time there. The weather was perfect. There were two groups of people working on the project while we were there both from Germany.

The first group were busy finishing off the school room where the classes were going to be run for children not going to the village school. The second group were a group of young men who were helping with the repairs to the homes of the elderly people living in the village.

FATHER SIMEON’S PROJECT

Father Simeon’s Project in Sibiu is going well and the Community Centre they are building is now more than just a shell. There is still much work to be done but in the meantime they struggle in the kitchen underneath the church to cook 50 meals a day to take out to the elderly people in the surrounding areas and for the children who come there after school
to be fed and cared for. Share donated £1200 last year and Jane will be taking another £1500 for the project when she goes in May.

It is amazing how Father Simeon and his wife (pictured below in white) have raised sufficient funds in the current financial
climate to do all they have done so far.

Jan Sanders one of our Trustees has been a fantastic fundraiser for Share. She goes out in the evening in all weathers
to speak to all sorts of groups; women’s groups, church groups, Rotary, Round Table even the local Yacht Club! Her
amazing efforts over the past twelve years or so have raised £250,000 for the work of Ascensium and now the projects
SHARE is supporting.

Our TRUSTEES

The Trustees would like to thank everyone who has donated money to SHARE this year. We have been able to achieve such a lot because of you.

The SHARE AGM will take place this year on Saturday 29th October 2011. It will be in the Lecture Hall at Coventry Cathedral, starting at 12 midday.

Details to follow nearer the time but please put the date in your diary, we would value your support!

This Summer, members of the Coventry Cathedral congregation supported Jane Williams in the launch of an ambitious new initiative in the middle of Transylvania, Romania. The new move was to involve local students in the work with children that the Cathedral has been supporting since 1994.

There will be an opportunity to hear from the volunteers who joined this work at a ROMANIA LUNCH on SUNDAY 17th OCTOBER. Tickets priced at £5 are available on the Cathedral Community Table.

At the Romania Lunch you can hear from some of the students who took part. There will also be news about the education project set up in Dacia, Romania where there is a Coventry Cathedral Cross of Nails Centre.

For the last 16 years Jane has been supporting work in Sibiu, Romania. The work has helped to deal with the consequences of the social engineering policies that were pursued by former President Ceausescu – the man who founded those infamous “orphanages”.

This summer SHARE has sponsored seven local students who volunteered to work with children with severe disabilities at a Centre in the middle of Sibiu. Six of the volunteers were Occupational Therapy students from Coventry University and two of them were Physiotherapy students from Birmingham University. The children who live at the Centre are those whom no one wanted when the orphanages were closed down as Romania prepared for entry into the EU.

SHARE NEWSLETTER 2010

2009 saw exciting developments in our work in Romania. The photographs show new work in Dacia, a village about 60 miles from Sibiu, Transylvania. The village has a Coventry Cross of Nails Centre and work is led by volunteers from Dresden, Germany. The village is very poor. Many residents are elderly. Many of their homes are in poor condition and in need of attention. Rooves leak and floors are crumbling. There is one well in the village providing water both for villagers and for their animals. Some villagers must walk 2 miles to obtain their daily drinking water supply.

Yes – Romania is a country in the EU but still many of its citizens lack basic living needs.

In 2009 the Trustees of SHARE agreed to provide funding for three programmes. The first programme is the work in Dacia described above. The work is focused on helping children who are not in school and on improving the living conditions of older people.

The picture shows the Cross of Nails Centre in Dacia. These were the Parish Rooms for the Lutheran Church which is located next door. The Centre provides basic accommodation for volunteers.

Frank Roth and his family who are from Dresden spend nine months of the year in Dacia and are supported by a non profit organisation in Dresden. They rely totally on volunteers and fundraising. Many of the young people of Dacia have left to try to find jobs in the cities leaving many older people to fend for themselves. The houses are in a poor state of repair.

The house in the picture lost its roof in a gas explosion and has been needing repair for some months. The family who live here are very poor. The father died three years ago leaving his wife to cope with three young children. The only money she receives is for the eldest child who has a disability and Frank helped her to claim benefit for him. Without this small amount of money they would have nothing. Frank is also working closely with local government leaders to improve conditions for elderly people in Sibiu.

The second programme is Father Simeon’s Project in Sibiu that provides a range of services for children, families and older people. The community centre they are building is coming along well despite the credit crunch which has had a devastating effect on the economy of Romania.

The project provides after school care for about 35 children who come to the centre after morning school. They have been referred to the project by social workers because of social problems, including domestic violence. They are given a good lunch and a teacher comes to work with them and help with homework. If they weren’t here at the Centre they would be left to look after themselves either at home or out on the street.

The other programme offered by the centre is for 40 vulnerable older people who live in and around the area of the church and in the town centre. Hot meals are provided at home – “meals on wheels” and emotional support and counselling is also provided. Father Simeon and his wife work so hard in the project which is the only church in Sibiu providing this sort of programme. Once the day centre is completed it will provide day care for older people to get them out of their homes to socialise. This project is under the umbrella of the Church Missionary Society.

The third programme is a Health Centre in Sibiu for children with very complex health and behavioural problems. The children were in orphanages prior to Romania becoming part of the EU and were not fostered or returned to their natural parents because of their disabilities. The Centre is modern and clean but lacks basic equipment that would improve the children’s quality of care. We sent £500 to the centre in November and light bulbs, radiators, a DVD player with some cartoon DVDs have been bought.

This is Bianca who Share has known for 15 years. She now lives in the Centre. After many years struggling with Bianca in a small apartment on the fourth floor of a block of flats her parents have separated and can no longer care for her. She was taken into care by social services.

News of Nuti and Lica: Nuti and Lica had worked for Ascensium for many years. When Ascensium closed at the end of January last year, Nuti and Lica had to find new jobs. It took a few months but both have secured really good jobs in another NGO (SOS) providing young people who were in orphanages with accommodation, education and support. It sounds like a really good project and Nuti and Lica are doing very similar jobs to their jobs in Ascensium.

A group of young people from two schools in Trafford will go to the SOS Villages in the July to run summer camps. Lica and Nuti’s cousin is ill with leukaemia and requires hospital treatment in Bucharest. The family receives no support for travel or any other costs that we just take for granted. Share has donated £500 to help them.

If this is a need that touches your heart please contact Mandy Hughes and sponsor her in the Triathlon she is taking part on 23rd May to raise funds for the family.