In the Community....

Childrens club Clubul GLIA .......

During the winter the playground freezes and so it is closed for nearly 6 months. We were concerned about losing contact with the children, so we decided to start a children's club on Saturday mornings.The children start arriving from 09.00 for the club that starts at 10.00! The club is led by Rebeca and Emanuel, a lovely brother and sister who belong to the youth club from the local baptist church. They are helped by some of their friends and Mirela, Lesley and Peter.

Up to 45 children aged between 4 and 15 come although now that we have the use of the Annex we have had up to 87 children attend! The Annex now gives us the opportunity of "splitting" the club into two age groups after the initial joint time - the older children (10-15) staying in the Annex and the younger ones (4-9) going across to the Centre. The children are a mix of Romanian and Gypsy children who mostly come from very poor homes and during the week come and play in the playground. The morning starts with a short aerobic session (!) then the children sing songs, play games, colour pictures, listen to and enact bible stories all of this is done with tremendous enthusiasm! They also have refreshments.

Children's Club Children's Club

In the summer months much of it is held outside on the grassed area beside the playground, and creates a lot of interest from the neighbours and passers-by. Until this year (2009) it has been a real "squash" in the hall but the Annexe is now far enough forward that we are able to use the main hall in that buildiing as well which means that we are able to split the Club into 4 -9 years olds and 10 - 15 year olds.

 

 
 
 

Helping the Community.......

Meals
The original vision for the Centre was to provide a place where families and individuals could come and have a meal provided for them. These are families and individuals that come from exceedingly poor situations, and they would normally queue at the town Cantina for a bucket of soup and a loaf of bread and for many it is the only time they eat meat.

Our aim is to treat these people with dignity and provide them with a wholesome three course meal (the photo is of a typical meal) which comprises of soup, a main course and desert and as much bread and water as they need, in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. We have an excellent Romanian cook and assistant who cook food that is so good that many people take home what they cannot eat at the table.

 

Many of the families now come to the Centre for a meal every week, which gives us the opportunity to build a relationship with them and they often invite us to visit and see their situations.

We have meals four day a week and since we have moved the meals into the new annex we are now providing up to 280 meals each week. The cost of each meal is approximately £1.60.

Food Bags
As well as providing meals we give approximately 250 food bags each month which contain basic necessities, the actual contents of each bag varies according to the size of family, but an average bag contains:

  • Rice 1kg
  • Pasta 1kg
  • Sugar 1kg
  • Oil ltr
  • Condiment (Deli Kat)
  • Tomato Paste
  • Coffee or fruit Tea

This basic bag now costs approximately £5 - £10 depending on the size of family.

 

We supplement this with items such as soap, shampoo, washing soap, toothpaste and brushes when possible..

Two or three times a year, we are donated food items such as - bags of dried vegetables, raisins, cornmeal and tinned food - by other charities working in Romania, which we add to the basic bags.

If you would like to help provide meals or foodbags, then please click on our "Support us" page.