March 4, 2024

The BEARR Trust is delighted to announce that it has joined staff of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in a fundraising effort under the Bank’s Community Initiative. The Community Initiative matches funds raised by EBRD staff in support of local charities and philanthropic activities in the countries where the Bank invests.

The EBRD Community Initiative focusses on three main areas:

· Humanitarian and Disaster Relief;

· Health and Social Care for the most vulnerable;

· Education and support for children’s development.

EBRD staff member Stanislav Suprunenko has set up a fundraising campaign under the Community Initiative to raise funds for BEARR’s Ukraine Appeal and the first €6,000 (£5,200) that he raises will be matched by the EBRD Community Initiative.

The fundraising effort has now exceeded its initial goal of €6,000 – we are very grateful to all our supporters!

Stanislav said: “We want to support The BEARR Trust because of the incredible amount of help they have given (and are still giving) to vulnerable people in Ukraine since February 2022. We like their approach: they send grants to community-based groups throughout the country, enabling these grass-roots organisations to provide whatever help they know is most needed locally. All funds raised will be sent rapidly to BEARR’s longstanding partners, local organisations that provide vital support to people who have been displaced and are suffering from the war. Most important for me, BEARR promises to pass on 100% of donations. It can do this because it is run by volunteers and pays for any administrative costs through separate fundraising.”

Here is how BEARR’s work in Ukraine meets the aims of the EBRD Community Initiative:

Humanitarian and Disaster Relief

The BEARR Trust was among the first charities to get funds to local groups in Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion. BEARR’s partners still provide essential supplies and shelter to vulnerable and displaced people and many have widened their scope to include psychological support.

Health and Social Welfare of the Vulnerable

Here are two examples of work being done by BEARR’s partners:

· Working with village councils around Khmelnitsky to develop mental wellbeing and rural integration programmes for people displaced from towns in the East.

· Providing group therapy for displaced people and local people traumatised by the conflict in the area between Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro.

Education and Support for Children’s Development

Two more of BEARR’s partners are focussing on this area of need:

· Providing educational activities for pre-schoolers and elementary pupils from displaced families in Odesa who are having difficulty enrolling their children in schools, and for displaced teenagers who are struggling with their new location and situation.

· Giving psychological support to children aged from 3 to 16 in the de-occupied area of Kharkiv Oblast, through group therapy sessions based on arts and crafts, sport and recreation. The support is provided for both displaced children and for children with disabilities from the region.

For more information about BEARR’s Ukraine Appeal, click here.