As many of you know, I recently founded my own charity 'Support Kharkiv Foundation'.
It has been created to support the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, its surrounding regions and its citizens, as the city has undergone destruction on a huge scale during the war in Ukraine.
At the start of the war, there was the greatest need for medical supplies, especially for tactical medicine. During the past six months Kharkiv has been targeted almost daily with missile attacks (as it is positioned to the East of the country, only 25 miles away from the Russian boarder). Apart from regular rocket attacks, there was a period when large number of mines were scattered on the streets in residential areas in some Kharkiv regions, which made it very dangerous to walk outside. Many civilians have been injured (and some, sadly, killed). There has not been a single day without the city being bombarded since the first day of the war (24th February 2022). And as of today, on the 13th of September, and Kharkiv now more, than ever, is experiencing heavy bombardment, whilst many people are living without light and electricity, with the continuous threat of death. At the same time many houses, buildings and infrastructure continue to be destroyed.
Supporting Children in Kharkiv
I am currently working on the 'Save the children. The Path of Hope' project, in collaboration with the Ukrainian charity 'Kharkiv with You'. The goal of the project is to help children from Kharkiv and its surrounding regions, with serious health issues, such as cancer, genetic disorders, major psychological problems induced by the war, & many others, who have already been offered free treatment in Europe, to be transported there, as this is very costly. Also, to help those children suffering from psychological disorders as a result of living in a war zone, or suffering from the loss of a parent.
Severely ill children in need of major world-class surgery are sent to the Bambino Gesu network of hospitals in Italy: “IRCCS San Raffaele Roma”,“Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesu” & “Ospedale Bambino Gesu di Palidaro”. A number of children with autism spectrum disorders were taken to France. There are also groups of children who are being taken to Bulgaria from the occupied territories, suffering from major psychological disorders.
How did we help?
Since June 2022 I started working on 'Save the children. The Path of Hope' project in collaboration with the Ukrainian charity 'Kharkiv with You'. With the help of my amazing audience, students, colleagues (many great musicians), friends, and just simply wonderful people who support my cause, in the past three months I have managed to raise just under £9,000.00 from two different platforms as well as my concert performances.
Here are the specific updates:
In June 2022, the funds from GoFundMe platform (£2,872.15) and from my concert appearance in May (£424), were sent to ‘Kharkiv with You’ charity. These monies helped to pay for the transportation of children and accompanying people from the Bulgarian Mistral camp on the 1st of July 2022, where they stayed during June 2022 for psychological and physical rehabilitation. These funds paid for the bus to transport 57 people.
In August 2022, the funds from GoFundMe platform (£400) and from my ‘Support Kharkiv Foundation’ (£5,000.00) were sent to ‘Kharkiv with You’ charity.
My Piano-Yoga® students made a great input, for which I am so grateful to them, as our online student fundraising concert on the 26th of July 2022, raised just over £1,000: £795.00 raised from ticket sales, and an additional £200 of donations, plus Gift Aid on those donations, brought the whole beautiful event to over £1,000!
These funds were used to pay for the transpiration back to Lviv, Ukraine of 108 needy children, and the people accompanying them (overall, 108 people, most of whom were from Izyum, Kharkiv region) who were taken from the Bulgarian Mistral camp on the 2 September 2022, where they had been staying there during August 2022 for psychological and physical rehabilitation.
Isym area of Kharkiv region was under occupation for a long time, and these children needed all the help they could get.
Here are the words of Olena Rofe-Beketova, the Director of charity 'Kharkiv with You’. ‘With sincere respect and immense gratitude for believing in us, in our strength, in our desire to preserve our future, let me thank you for your humanity, for your understanding and support, which are so keenly felt and so important in this difficult time’.
If you would like to help us further, you are welcome to donate directly to my 'Support Kharkiv Foundation'
Thank you for your support!
Together, we can help Ukraine, and, most importantly, its children, who will now grow up more mature and, hopefully, stronger, due to the support they have received.
With love,
GéNIA