Vivian's 80th Birthday

In Russia, children with disabilities or dysfunctional families have a hard time. They are isolated and any support comes from voluntary organisations. In the 1990s, inflation soared, and the state no longer provided any safeguards for the poor and marginalised. The work of our inspirational founder, Irina von Schlippe, not only brought relief to struggling children and families but also helped them to help themselves. This was and continues to be the charity’s ethos.
Today, the causes of the problems have changed but the need remains. We have similar projects in Georgia and Moldova now, but we continue to help our Russian partners, although, as you can imagine, this is difficult at the moment.
I have been a trustee since 2006 and this year, as I celebrate my 80th birthday, I am standing down from the Board and asking my friends and family to give a donation to St Gregory’s instead of a present.
St Gregory’s has enriched my life so much – meeting wonderful people, learning new skills and travelling to Georgia and Russia. I am sorry not to be running a marathon, scaling a mountain, or indeed anything more enterprising than reaching the ripe old age of 80! But, even so, I hope you will feel able to make a contribution to a wonderful charity. You can learn more about their work on their website stgregorysfoundation.org.uk/