Make yourself comfortable this could be a long one
We are Douglas &
Bernadette Leggett and we would like to tell you a little about ourselves and our involvement in the Dimcho Debelianov Orphanage in Silistra, Bulgaria. We currently live in Peterborough in the UK, two ordinary people working to pay the bills and enjoying a holiday when we can. We have been visiting Bulgaria now for a number of years and we just love the country, the people and their traditions. Most of all, we feel very passionate about the children in the Orphanages.
We started off bringing a few extra clothes and giving them to various people, to give to the needy and the orphanages. Then, in 2005, we bought a small house in Silistra, in the North-East of Bulgaria, which we renovated in order to spend our holidays there. We got to know our neighbours, the villagers, their families and, more importantly, we got to know about the Dimcho Debelianov Orphanage.
We decided that we would bring what we could to help the children ourselves. Dougie built a huge trailer with the intention of filling it with goods for the children and driving over. We had lots of help and collected goods from friends, family, work colleagues and Freecycle. The results were wonderful. Before we knew it, we had boxes and boxes to transport to Bulgaria. The trailer was almost finished when due to sudden illness, all our plans had to be changed, and the trip was delayed for 7 months.
We collected more than we could carry in a trailer, so we had to find another way of transporting the goods to Bulgaria, therefore, I contacted a Bulgarian transport company and they agreed to transport for just under £2,000. We had no other option but to pay for the transport of the goods - we had come this far and could not let the children down now.
Finally, the boxes were delivered to the children on the 20th October 2008, the most wonderful experience we have ever experienced. We were so happy, even through all the problems we had encountered, the setbacks, Dougie’s ill health, extra costs etc., we achieved our goal. It was just wonderful. The children were delighted and our donations made them so happy. We decided there and then that this is what we wanted to do, to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
We Dougie and I do everything ourselves regarding the requesting of items, collecting, sorting, packing, labeling, pallet-ting, although we get help with with the loading and unloading here in the UK and BG. We cover al the shoeboxes and fill every single shoebox with donated items or items we have shopped all year for from carboot sales, stores, sales donated or new/nearly new donated items. it's hard work and I also work full time in a stressful complaints call centre. So you see what started out as a few extra boxes of goods now developed into 27 cubic meters of goods sending every year. Since 2008 we have send 4 lorry loads of goods over. We started off with one orphanage The Dimcho Debelianov and now we have 3 orphanages, The Disability Centre, The Home for the Elderly, 3 Villages, the Doctors surgery and we have supplied two new wheelchairs to the Silistra hospital. We have also helped by sending boxes goods to 7 other orphanages in Bulgaria so yes, we have indeed come a long way. This year we will be taking on another establishment The Adult Disability Home 130 residents age 18 to 80+ just outside of Silistra. I am waiting for the details from the director. It is not easy getting information from any of the establishments, but we are getting there and of course getting know now so moving forward slowly.
Each year we hold a hold a Garden Party at the Dimcho. This Garden Party gets bigger and bigger each year and we are honored to have our very own Willow (Bryan as our photographer who is always there to support us)
We have had a fantastic year this year 2012. I did the usual, wrote to 100's of companies asking if they could help but this time it was for something massive - a holiday for our children, needless to say got lots of replies say sorry cannot help, or no replies at all. Than one hotel replied The Hotel Delta Beach in Sunny Beach and offered to take all the children and the guardians 12 adults on an all inclusive basis and for 2 whole weeks -
Well, as you can imagine this was just out of this world, were just blown away at this generous offer. I checked, double and trebled checked the terms and yes it was an all inclusive holiday for as many children and adults we needed to send. I asked the manager what made him chose us and he said 'because you asked - This has never been done in Bulgaria before and you inspired me to do a project so I have invited another 2 orphanages at the same time'. So all in all there were over 200 children at the hotel for their holidays. The children loved every single minute of this holiday and it looks like they may be going back again next year please God.
We have now found sponsors who supply all our packaging boxes Tee Kay Packaging P'boro and we have a storage company who collect and store our goods PC Howard Ltd Kings Cliff P'boro. Now this year we have a company who sponsors our transport LWM Consultants Ltd - so with the funds we save from ours sponsors on ourbulgariaforuum.com and donors plus our fundraising we could help with the holiday costs and buy trainers for all the children. Our organization is not about money, but about the essential everyday items we can obtain to make life a little more comfortable and normal for the children and other establishments. Although it took us almost the year to raise the transport funds, whatever was left over would buy anything that was needed urgently, underwear, trainers etc.
This year, only this last week we have completed yet another project, which was to raise funds to buy all new bunk beds for the Dimcho. This project was to last us till next year but with our facebook friends and forum friends and fundraising we completed this task and the children will have all new bunk beds before Christmas - now we are looking at supplying all the linen including pillows. duvets and covers not sure if we can do this yet, even if manage to get them we still have to send them over to Bulgaria - so I will need to plan this out.
Our next project for 2013 will be to try to have donated or buy new cycles for the two orphanages in Silsitra another big task but God and our supporters are good and I am sure we will achieve this goal too, we have a year to do this.
We can do so much to help the children, but naturally, we cannot do it alone. Chris, Bill and myself build us a wonderful website and through that and our Facebook and this forum we are spreading the word.... Not only are the people in the UK helping. We still have our very first Bulgarian company Nominal Accounting Ltd in Burgas. They have been with us for 4 years now and still continue to support us. Bulgaria is opening it's eyes to the needy now, which is fantastic news but we have to take one step at a time. Every year we see a new change and that is going in the right direction.
So there you have it our success story Dougie and I are very proud of what we do, it may not be a lot to most people but as long as we make a dream come true and see happy smiling faces from our children, than that that is all that matters we have achieved our goals too. Hopefully 2013 will be even bigger and better.
Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:14 pm
Yes, I have wondered what made people decide that they could live and try something positive to do in Bulgaria. Please don't start carping on about how awful it is in Britain because in fact, its not entirely and so much depends on where you live. I think what Willowsend is asking is for people to write about the more positive reasons for moving to Bulgaria and how successful they have been. Like Willowsend, we came for a postive reason to retire away from tourism and to integrate and help our village which accepted us as friends and part of the Community. I think we succeeded. How about you? I am especially thinking of Oddie who has tirelessly supported Silistra Orphanage and now others. What was the original plan?
