Relief
Bulgaria
Currently in Bulgaria, there are no social services for appropriate temporary accommodation and no functioning guardianship system for unaccompanied and separated children in Bulgaria. This has led to rampant abuse and neglect of children. There are also very few supports available for adults living in poverty leading to a large homeless population.
With a growing need for services for separated children and homeless adults, St Sofia and St Dimitar were opened to give temporary shelter to those in need. There are currently over 125 children and over 450 adults living in these shelters. Both shelters are in desperate need of food, clothes and shoes as the residents often arrive with very little and cannot move on without appropriate supplies.
GAiN UK got to know Pastor Filip Rashev of Full Gospel Church in Sofia in 2023. He visits these shelters weekly and shared with us the need for warm clothing for the winter, as temperatures in Sofia can go down to -15C.
In November 2024, GAiN UK together with GAiN Germany sent 1,000 boxes of donated clothes, shoes and winter jackets to help the people cope with the harsh winter in Sofia. World Give also partnered with us and sent 150 Christmas shoeboxes, to give to the children in these shelters.
As a result, Pastor Filip and his team were able to distribute these items to over 20 different cities and villages so far, with over 3,000 people having benefitted from these aid, of which 1220 were children.
Romania
Cluj-Napoca is a city of two halves in north-western Romania. It is the capital of the historical region Transylvania, home to 85,000 students and a popular tourist destination. But Cluj is also home to a community of Roma people living in Pata-rat, a slum beside the city’s rubbish dump on the outskirts of town, affectionately called “Dallas” by the people who live there.
The Roma are some of the most excluded and disadvantaged people in Europe. There are six million Roma living within the EU, more than the total population of Ireland. They are treated as second-class citizens just because of their ethnicity. They experience persecution, are evicted from their homes and are treated unfairly by people in authority.
Life beside the rubbish dump is tough; living in make-shift houses with little access to education and job opportunities, things can seem hopeless for the community. One Christian charity, Rise2Shine have been working with the Roma population living in Pata-Rat over the long-term, seeking to bring hope and develop social, educational and vocational skills. GAiN UK has been partnering with Frank and Rita, who lead Rise2Shine, since 2015 by sending aid, finances and teams to support their work.
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