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Hi everyone

I have started an orphanage appeal to aid the homes in the Plovdiv region. I wanted to start it sometime ago, but I have only been able to a short time ago. Reading about everyone else who has started orphanage appeals in their own areas in Bulgaria has been really inspiring.

It all started after chatting with my mum about some clothes her friends daughter had passed on for Gabbi, but they were too small for her. My mum said she would take them to the local charity shop and I happened to mention how it was a shame we couldn’t give them to an orphanage. Well that was it, she thought it was a great idea and it has took off from there.

I started a Facebook group and within 2 days, had 15 bags of clothes and toys donated! I then created a website which is now up and running.

[url=http:
//abrightstartfororphansbg.
webs.
com:2o86m264][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

We visited the local orphanage in Kalofer. A local Peace Corp volunteer, Jo, introduced us to the Director and staff, the meeting was a little sticky at first but they were just concerned about what our intentions were towards the home and children. They gave us a tour of the home, told what they needed most and I hope we hope to provide much of it after our next donations come over in April or May. By the end of the visit the Director and staff were really happy that we wanted to help them.

Yesterday, me and my friend Pauli went to the Baby orphanage in Plovdiv. I have just written about our visit and you can read about it below.

We are initially collecting unwanted clothing, shoes and household items which can be used in the homes and in the future will look at doing some fundraising and we are looking into the process of becoming a registered charity.

We were very kindly offered some space on a van coming to Bulgaria, so we could transport our first load of donations. I really can’t thank Dave Sharp enough for doing this for us, he’s a star!

The appeal is still in the very early stages, but the response I have had from friends, family and people I have never met has been incredible. Over the next year I hope to arrange fund raising days here in Bulgaria and also in the UK.

If anyone would like to donate to our appeal or has ideas about fundraising in our area, please contact me.

Thanks everyone

Charlie

It did get sorted out, but not through me. Kittens got a great new home I was told. I was also told that 'The shelters generally find homes in N Europe &
charge the adopters a set fee to cover transportation costs. Generally via air travel but by road offers a significantly lower cost option''. This is why I was approached in the beginning so that 2 causes could be helped at the same time.

It is a good idea, but not put into practice, so could it work?!?! We will see maybe in the future.

I will be writing an update about donations, transport, etc, hoping to have all donations here by beginning of December, all going well, so watch this space

Thank you for the update and I look forward to reading more about you project in the future

Well, it’s done, all the donations have now arrived in Bulgaria and are being delivered to me tomorrow!!!!! Thankfully, 2 friends are coming round to help me unload as there are 2 vans coming!!!

So all this was made possible by Vince from Removals to Bulgaria, who brought together all the transport companies to help collect donations from around the UK and ship them to Bulgaria. So we had Vittorio from Euro-UK Moves Ltd collecting from Brighton and Berkshire, Britannia Bradshaw International Ltd from Oldham. After all this, Hunts International brought all the donations from Manchester to Euro-UK Moves Ltd, who stored all the items at their London depot for us.

Then we had to get the donations from London to Bulgaria and we have Matrix Relocation from Sofia to thank. Stefan coordinated with Vittorio to collect the items and they have now safely arrived in Bulgaria.

But it doesn’t stop there!!!

My friend, Andrea Pilcher, who had already collected donations and shoe boxes from friends and family, had some more donations given and another 25 shoe boxes!!! These are now coming over to my dad near Huddersfield as he too has more donations. Firstly, he has collected from GSG Carpet Factory Shop in Rochdale, a selection of rugs and carpet roll ends which are going to come in very useful in the homes with winter almost upon us, helping to keep the children’s feet off them cold concrete floors! We also have some other donations. My Aunt, Anne Bradford, has also being doing her part for our appeal. Anne is the Co-ordinator of OWLS, which stands for Over Fifties Weekday Leisure Session. The club meets Monday to Friday with a different group each day so many people have helped with the appeal. They held a Harvest Bring &
Buy and raffles and raised 330 pounds! They have also made up some shoe box Christmas gifts. Thank you so much.

So then, to get all the extra donations here!! Well my dad asked around friends, acquaintances, etc and asked if they could possibly donate towards the transportation costs. With the help of many people, he managed to raise enough money to pay for the transport and once the snow stops, the load will be on its way!! We also have a parcel coming all the way from America. Thank you Maggie Sawaya.

So my next update will be after we have delivered the donations to the children. The first visit will be to deliver the donations of clothes, toys, etc to Kalofer and then nearer Christmas, we will deliver the shoe box gifts! We will also deliver to Plovdiv baby orphanage the many items that have been donated to them including some Christmas goodies.

I will also be listing the many people and companies who have helped us over the past few months, as we really could not have done so much for the children without them.

Go Girl

Well done Charlie that is just [size=150:1dgboxr0]Fantastic News!!! You are a little trooper and you have so many supporters now in the UK &
BG who are just wonderful too. It is just amazing what you all do. :Clap:and believe me it is no easy job trying to get help or helpers. I have tired every company regarding transport but no success, but you have done marvelous, All credit to you :Love1: :Arrrr: and your team. :Angel1:Just amazing work.

[size=150:1dgboxr0]You are a little

Berni xx

Oddy

Great news Charlie and well done to all those around, its people like you and Bernie who make all the difference to these children and I'm sure its appreciated by all, its just a pity there isn't more like you 2 and a few others

Its always good to hear such positive news on this forum about the help that you all give I think you should all be renamed as Mummy Christmas and Daddy Christmas

Thanks Berni, means a lot coming from you, Mr and Mrs Inspiration!!!

Well, the bad news is that my friend Andrea, hasn't been able to get to my dads to deliver the extra donations and shoe box gifts she was given, but she does have to go from Liverpool to Huddersfield, and the weather has not been playing very nicely!!! My dad arrives in BG on Monday for 5 days and the transport is going to collect from my dads next Friday, so although my dad wont be there for the collection, we are hoping that my friend can get over. All her donations are actually being stored at her mum's house in Ashton, but her mum and dad are away!!! Keep your fingers crossed she can get them to the transport co in time!!!

Other than that, I am gearing up for tomorrow, camera charged and ready, just a few more things to move around next door in mother in laws place, as we will be storing everything there until it's sorted. Good job she's away working in Greece!! Ha ha. Funny for my dad as he is staying in there, so best leave a pathway to the bedroom and bathroom!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Fantastic Charlie you are doing very well and if you can it would be nice to see some pics on here

Wonderful initiative!

I have been to some orphanages in the Plovidv region and according to my observations the smaller the town where the orphanage is located - the worse the conditions in the orphanage (and respectively more happy faces when Santa comes)

Thanks everyone for your lovely words.

As my dad was visiting us last week, we wanted to take him to see Kalofer orphanage, meet the children, staff and to see the home for himself. We have had so many donations given, that we have yet to sort through them all, so as we decided to take a few now and the rest later, once our last load is delivered in about a week.

We were greeted, as usual, by a few children, shaking our hands and, speaking in very nice English, asking, “What is your name?” I think Jo, the Peace Corp volunteer has been giving them more English lessons!!! More children meet us inside and a child took of each of your hands and said to come upstairs. Once upstairs, we were met by a staff member who said the Director was downstairs!!! Ha ha, bless the children, they just decided to take us where they wanted us!!! Ludmila, the Director, met us at the bottom of the stairs. Chech told her that we could unload the donations we had brought and then we could have a chat with her privately.

Of course, so much enthusiasm for helping to unload the car and with so many volunteers, the job got done in no time at all!! All the donations are now kept in a store room until the staff can sort through them and hand them out by size/age.

We did take the final box of items from Joe Bloggs in Manchester. In this box were some great thick, winter sweater/hoodies, perfect for this time of year. Also hats, caps and belts. The children loved them, not enough for all of them unfortunately but we have more clothes to take to them next week. I also showed them how to play Jenga as 2 games were given, as were a few jigsaws, but it really was just a few bags we took this trip and they will get much more in the next week or so.

We then went to the office with the Director so we could go through a few things. We told her that some people (namely my Aunt and friends) had raised some money and we needed to know what they needed most. She said they needed curtains and things to make the rooms more homely. She also said they need carpet as the floors are so cold in the winter. So Chech then told her that some were already on the way!!! Her reaction was “Seriously?????” She looked shocked and happy at the same time. I have to say, that the rooms are cold, big, high ceilings, big windows and she is right, not that homely at all. Our long term plan is to raise money so we can renovate all the rooms, make them much brighter and more cheerful, so we said this is definitely something we can help with in the future. So she said that the need toiletries on a weekly basis, so we are going to go to Metro, possibly, in the next week and buy shampoo, conditioner, soap, shower gel, deodorant, sanitary towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, absolutely anything we can think of.

We then told the Director about the Christmas shoe boxes. We said that we do not want the children to know, we want it to be surprise!!!! So we are going on Christmas week, the children will be in a room and we will give the children their Christmas presents. Oh I can’t wait to see their faces, it is going to be so wonderful and memorable!!!!

So watch out for my next write up after our next visit.

And, just had word that the final load is arriving tomorrow, with the rugs and carpet roll ends, and more shoe boxes. Me and Chech have just been trying to sort through some of the boxes and boy, is it gonna take some time. I have 2 friends who said they would help, so will wait and see how it all is after tomorrows delivery. Checked all shoe boxes and we should have managed to cover all the age groups.

God another one who is making a difference to the children in Bulgaria it all sounds very exciting indeed and I'm sure all the children will just love the surprise and I would love to be there to see and hear them, maybe you could upload some pictures when you get back so we can all join in the excitement well what more can I say except well done to you and the many that help make all this happen

Well done to you Charlie and all that your doing to help all the children in this orphanage, I have to say that you and Berni and not forgetting Littlesteps are all angels and the work that you all do is marvelous I wish to that I was able to see all the children receive their presents but a few pictures would be very nice well done again and I hope all goes well for all of you

To all you fabulous, wonderful, kind and generous people out there who donated to Kalofer orphanage, you have made this Christmas for the children the best one ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, from the beginning;


Sam, Richard and Roger, our friends here in Bulgaria, came along to help me and Chech load up all the donations. There was a fair bit!! We took our convoy to Kalofer and for the first time ever I think, no one was there to greet us!! Well it was a little on the cold side!!!!

Normally, when we go, the kids are clambering over each other to help unload the car, sneaking a look in the boxes, typical excited children! But this time had to be different, the Director enlisted the help of the older children,(although the older girls wanted to keep posing for photographs, ha ha) and all the others were asked to wait in the classroom, well, not a classroom as such, but it has desks and chairs so somewhere for all the children to have their own spot. I was then introduced to a French lad who was there volunteering, then a girl, then another lad, then another 3 girls ….. I had to find out more. They all spoke excellent English. They work for an engineering and technology company in Lyon and the company has projects that they can take part in. One of the projects is a week in Bulgaria volunteering at an orphanage. They are spending Christmas at the home and leave on 26th December. I asked them what they thought, they said it was good but very cold. The corridors have no heating at all, I think it was definitely an eye opening trip for them. They said they communicate with the children and staff via charades and say the children are great.

So, between us, we took everything upstairs, ready for the big hand out!!!!!

Carpet rolls ends (great for the cold, concrete floors!!!)
Mats we made from some of the carpet (for next to the children’s beds. No more concrete floor first thing in the morning!!)
Clothes
Shoes
Toys
Christmas shoe box gifts

Richard, Sam and Roger were at the ready with cameras, whilst me and Chech started organizing the bags and the boxes, then I looked up. There was a little chatter going on, but I saw that all eyes were on me!!!! Eek!!!! So this is why I didn’t want to be a school teacher!!! Ha ha. I gave a smile and got back on with it!

One young lad came in just before we started handing out the presents, I’d seen him on every one of my trips to the home. He had white all over his mouth!!! It was later that Chech told us that another delivery had been made to the home earlier and he had got his toothpaste, not knowing it was toothpaste and ate the lot!! For a split second, I giggled, a confused giggle, but then we were all horrified, that this boy did not know it was toothpaste. The Director told Chech that they have to teach the children about these things, what deodorant is for, how to use toothpaste, etc. Bless him.

Ok, ready!!!!!!! So first of all, we handed out the presents. They came up one by one and the Director asked them to say a Christmas rhyme after receiving their present. This was lovely. All the children had big grins on their faces and when each child had finished their rhyme, they got a huge round of applause. Of course, as you can imagine, none of the older lads and gals did a rhyme, we got a cheeky embarrassed grin, a thank you and then they would scuttle back to their friends. They do make me laugh. Some of the children were missing, but would be given their presents when they got back. One girl was downstairs, so the Director asked the girls sister to go and get her.

Thankfully, I did my calculations correctly and each child got 2 Christmas presents each!!! Then handed out the toiletry bags, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. These went down really well with the children too. Then I handed out the chocolate and lolly treats we got them, well, it is Christmas!!! Time for photos. Most of the children came on the photos, but a few of the younger ones did not want to, either too busy playing with the contents of her Christmas present goody box or were just camera shy! One little girl called Lily, just missed the big photo, so we had one together.

During this time, I saw that the sister had now arrived. She looked upset, I asked if she was ok and she shrugged her shoulders. It was a short time after this that I found out she had been washing dishes and then went on the computer, as she did not know we were upstairs!!!! She was upset because she missed out on our visit, bless her. But she did get her 2 Christmas presents and toiletry bag, so hopefully she would feel much better once she had opened them.

And then it was done!!!!!!!!!! The older girls came over to us and with Chech translating, they said that they have never had so much and that we knew exactly what they wanted!! They were so happy and chuffed, big smiles and so very thankful.

We were not able to hand out all the Christmas presents sent over to the children at Kalofer, as there were not enough to go around, we also have some more in the UK that we could not get here in time, because the snow decided to pay a visit to the UK! I learnt my lesson a while ago, when taking things for the children, take equal amounts, enough for all, as the children get upset. This I do not want!!! So, we are going to do an Easter shoe box appeal, but I will post most details about this in the New Year.

The visit to Kalofer orphanage was such a magical experience, really great start to Christmas week and I was really happy that Chech, Sam, Richard and Roger got to be a part of it too. I wish you all could have been there, maybe one day ;
)

My list of thank you’s could go on forever, so here are just a few:

My mum Enid xxxxx
Aunty Anne Bradford xx
Cousin Jane Winterbottom xx
My dad Alan xxxxx
The friends and colleagues of my dad who helped fund our last delivery

The Owls of Huddersfield
St. Georges Church, Mossley
Harold Stock and Co Solicitors, Mossley
Kirsty Dunn (who organized Christmas gifts from St. Georges and the Solicitors above)
GSG Carpets in Rochdale
Joe Bloggs clothing in Manchester

My very good friend Andrea Pilcher (xxxxx)

Malcolm Plant
Rebecca Plant
Yolla Franklin and friends
Mrs Cynthia Gibson (Richards mum)

Our fabulous transport companies who all banded together to help our appeal:

[url:k91m4fls]http:
//www.
removalstobulgaria.
com[/url:k91m4fls] and the amazing Vince (who coordinated everything!)
[url:k91m4fls]http:
//www.
bradshawinternational.
com[/url:k91m4fls]
[url:k91m4fls]http:
//www.
euro-ukmovesgroup.
co.
uk[/url:k91m4fls] and the fabulous Vittorio
[url:k91m4fls]http:
//www.
matrixrelo.
com[/url:k91m4fls]and the brilliant Stefan (Sofia branch)
[url:k91m4fls]http:
//www.
hunts-international.
co.
uk[/url:k91m4fls], Manchester


Thank you to everyone who has taken part in our appeal this year, you are wonderful and generous people and have really made a difference to the children’s lives! Thank you.

My word you did do well and with so many helpers it must feel wonderful to see all the children's faces when they received their gifts as you say maybe one day I will get over to be there on the day well done to you all for such a brilliant job

Charlie you and your helpers did [size=150:37v72qvh]Fantastic!! Well done You are amazing to co-ordinate all this. The children and staff are so very lucky to have YOU Go girl - let 2011 be even better

Berni

Oddy