News

Exhibition Supported by Children's Hearts Charitable Foundation Was Held on 1 June 2014

On 1 June, on the Children's Protection Day, the Azor's Rose Gallery hosted a silent auction supported by the Children's Hearts Charitable Foundation, for diverse and renowned artists. The Foundation asked prominent Russian artists to make flower paintings specifically for a charity sale implying that children are flowers of life. In total, the exhibition displayed some 25 artworks. Our Foundation bought six of them and channelled funds to the Children's Hearts Foundation to pay for heart surgeries. We are grateful to young musicians for their concerts, which we greatly admired!

"You Are Not Born a Parent" Journalism Contest Finalized

On 10 June 2014, an award ceremony was held at the Central Journalist House for "You Are Not Born a Parent" Journalism Contest winners. The jury headed by first deputy chairperson of the Russian Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children Olga Batalina reviewed more than 700 works from 76 regions. In comparison, the 2013 contest received 220 applications from 41 Russian regions. The jury members included representatives from the Children in Need Foundation, the Union of Journalists of Russia, the Social Information Agency, YUNPRESS, the Russian Ministries of Labour and Social Protection, Education and Science, and Justice, experts on childhood protection, relevant practitioners and journalists, and our Foundation director Elena B. Beregovaya. On behalf of our Foundation, she awarded Olga Dunaeva, a special prize winner in the category For the Best Publication on Volunteering, a diploma for her work "Charity and Ingratitude."

Film as a gift!

On 8 June 2014, the Sozidaniye Charitable Foundation screened Maleficent, a fantasy film, for more than 150 people, including those in care of our Foundation. Children saw a soap bubble show, clown performance and received plush toys and mugs as gifts. Thank you very much, the Sozidaniye Foundation!

Anniversary of Home of ROST

A year ago, in June 2013, our project "Home of ROST" was launched. It is being implemented jointly with the autonomous non-profit organization "ROST -- Development, Education, Socialization and Job Placement for Foster Children and Graduates of Children's Homes and Boarding Schools and Parentless Children." Now, a large close-knit family lives in the settlement of Petrovsky, the Ivanovo region, comprising mother Svetlana, her own daughter Vika and four children Valera, Andrei, Sasha and Misha who over the past year have become Vika's real brothers. This helped the boys understand what respect for next of kin means. We visited this wonderful family joyfully celebrating an anniversary of their new home. The boys have greatly changed over the past year – the warmth of their home helped them become more self-confident, start thinking in earnest about their future, and be more responsible for their life. We wish the boys great achievements and let the experience of this family be a good example to would-be foster parents!

First Interregional Conference on Joyful Old Age Charity Foundation

Between 6 and 8 June 2014, the Joyful Old Age Charity Foundation supported by the Vladimir Smirnov Foundation held the First Interregional Conference on Volunteer Opportunities for the Elderly, in Moscow at the RF Social Chamber. The renowned group "The Buranovo Grannies" greeted all participants using a video message. For the first time, problems of the elderly people living at elderly care homes and ways of their solution have been submitted for broad public discussion. Representatives from 20 Russian regions, including the Russian Far East, the Arkhangelsk, Samara, Yaroslavl regions, and Udmurtia shared their unique work experience. Participants learned new approaches to working with the elderly at the master classes and had the opportunity to talk with the Joyful Old Age Foundation staff in the informal atmosphere of a picnic and make two trips to elderly care homes together with them. The open discussion ground within the Conference provided the opportunity for everyone who wanted to voice their opinion about problems of the elderly in our country and ask any relevant questions.

Visit to Centre for Curative Teaching

On 5 June 2014, our Foundation employees called on our old partner, the Centre for Curative Teaching, which provides aid to children with various developmental disorders like autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, genetic syndromes, cognitive disorders, learning disabilities and other problems. Project coordinator Toma Kovrigina told about progress made on current projects relating to primary reception, pause, and preparation for school. Besides, we took a more in-depth look at issues relating to the approaching summer camp on Valdai.

Visit to Resource Centre

On 3 June 2014, we visited the Resource Centre. The Centre focuses on comprehensive psychological, pedagogical and social assistance to adoptive families that bring up children with health, development and behaviour problems. Our partner, the "Here and Now" Charitable Foundation, is carrying out this programme. Natalya Styopina, manager, said that the Centre was set up five years ago. Since then, 120 children have received various types of assistance. Now, the Centre has seven employees who design individual development pathways for each child and conduct correctional, developing and therapeutic classes for children and their parents, and work to improve child and parent relations and eliminate the risk of return of adopted children. Currently, 48 children from 35 families attend the Centre on a permanent basis.

Gifts for Cherntsk Boarding School

A magnificent gala was held today at the Big Moscow Circus on Vernadsky Avenue, dedicated to the International Day for Protection of Children. The Northern Crown Foundation has held a traditional event for orphans and parentless children for about 3,500 foster children from 75 orphan asylums, specialized boarding schools and correctional institutions from 16 Russian regions. Our Foundation had the opportunity to hand some gifts over to the Cherntsk Boarding School, the Ivanovo Region. The gifts comprised flower seedlings to adorn garden plots of the school, and mobile phones for 15 school leavers. We wish each child found a path leading to a happy and successful life!

Conference "Target Capital: Growth Strategy"

On 2 June 2014, Elena Beregovaya, our foundation director, visited the final conference dedicated to a two-year pilot program to support target capital development in Russia launched by V. Potanin Charitable Foundation and titled "Target Capital: Growth Strategy" implemented in partnership with the Forum of Donors and the Russian Economic School. The conference showcased the best practices of fundraising campaigns run by programme participants.

Visit to "Warm House"

On 30 May 2014, we paid a visit to the "Warm House". This programme is carried out by our partner, Volunteers to Help Orphans Charity Foundation, in the town of Pushkino. Earlier, the "Warm House" was located in the town of Korolev. Now, after moving to another place, living conditions in it have improved to accommodate comfortably seven families. The "Warm House" is a lodge for women who were going to abandon a newborn infant or remove it from the family for some reasons, for example when there was no place to live. Since its inception, the "Warm House" project had given shelter to 27 mothers with children before they were ready to live on their own.

VLADIMIR SMIRNOV FOUNDATION