History of aid projects

Thanks to you, 289 amazing children were given a chance to take a break from the war at Safety Camp 2022

The last Safety Camp 2022 was much more difficult to organise. We knew of tens of thousands of children in need fleeing from the front, but the real number was probably even higher. How do you find a location and organise a summer camp when you cannot predict in which direction the front will move tomorrow and where bombs will start falling? Finally, an owner of a luxury hotel complex let us use his property for free the whole summer! The kids enjoyed swimming and visits to the zoo, which we would not have been able to pay for in the previous years.

Together we managed to warm up the
homes and hearts of 317 grandmothers in the Heating for Grannies project in 2021

In the winter of 2021/22, we began making personal videos for donors about the grandmothers and their lives. After seven years on the front line, our team was able to authentically present to donors what we actually did and how and what our main intention was – presenting the grandmothers’ stories to show the positive aspects that help can bring. We featured the amazing, peculiar grandmothers who we could help thanks to you!

Safety Camps 2021

We managed to hold camps for 252 frontline children this year. It took place on an old Soviet base, but it was safe with a touch of adventure. We enjoyed it as much as the kids. Thank you for each and every one of them!

Heating for Battlefront Grannies 2020

Safety Camps 2020

We organised three different types of camps for children on the battle front this year. In addition to day camps and tented camps on the Blue Lakes, we also took the kids canoeing for the first time! The lucky 165 children had a experience of a lifetime.

Heating for Battlefront Grannies 2019

We focus mainly on finding grandmothers in half-abandoned villages that are out of reach for regular humanitarian aid. Finding them is difficult. But it is so worth it! This year, we saved 70 frontline grandmothers and we brought joy to their homes, which is something that cannot be quantified in money as they put it.

Safety Camp 2019

The Blue Lakes far behind the front, a pine forest, swimming, fun all-day activities, sand and relaxation… and most importantly – no shooting! About 80 kids participated and had a great time. And so did we. Seeing the children’s pure joy softens even the toughest of men.

Heating for Battlefront Grannies 2018

Winter means a daily struggle to avoid frostbite for people who have been trapped in the combat zone for five years, mainly grandmothers who live in damaged houses near the front line or in apartment blocks with windows shattered by shell blasts. We helped on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes it was enough to find a stove maker and help repair a broken stove, in other case we donated a sharp saw and axe. Mostly, however, our help consisted in donating firewood/coal, a scarce commodity in frontline towns. In 2018, we provided for 50 grandmothers on the front line.

Safety Camp 2018

We organised four camp sessions directly in the frontline towns for 110 children. Unfortunately, we could still hear the sound of nearby gunfire from the front, which had become a sad reality of each day here after the five years of war. Most of the kids had already gotten used to this war-zone cacophony so it did not ruin the fun and the great camp programme we had prepared!

Heating for Battlefront Grannies 2017

In that memorable year, we could hardly get firewood transported to the front because of the renewed fighting in the area. The splitting of the wood was also exhausting but the joy of the grannies and the warmth of their smiles paid us back a hundred times over.

Safety Camp 2017

The camp was held for the first time at the great location on the Blue Lakes in the Donetsk region. A pine forest far away from the war and 40 children in safety… amazing! Thank you!

Heating for Battlefront Grannies 2016

Our biggest project to date. Winter can be harsh in the Donbas, with temperatures dropping to -30 °C. For those who live in the basements of shot-up houses on the front line or in apartments with windows shattered by shell blasts, this basically means freezing to death. We supported the production of little stoves in a workshop in one of the frontline towns, and bought more stoves in local shops. We gave away 106 of them! Each of them to warm up one family. As a bonus, we gave work to several welders. We also managed to transport 500 cubic meters of firewood, which saved 300 families from cold.

Safety Camp 2016

This year, we focused on organising camps directly in the frontline towns, so that we could cheer up more children and give them a break from the war that often takes place just a stone’s throw away. It was dangerous, but we successfully prepared a program for more than 160 frontline children. Hooray!

Heating for Battlefront Grannies 2015

We are trying to launch a project to help women of all ages living on the front line by donating firewood supplies to keep them from freezing during harsh winters. In times of fierce fighting, getting to the front is a “mission impossible”, so we hire brave local guys to cut wood in the nearby mined forest. We were able to help the first 30 women.

Safety Camp 2015

In May, we were surprised by the number of children hiding with their parents in the basements. They were in pitiful condition, above all in terms of their mental health. Half a year of shelling had brought only death and fear. We came up with the idea to them away from the war out to a summer camp for a couple of weeks. We arranged everything at short notice in less than a month. One hundred kilometres from the combat zone, 65 children enjoyed a packed program at a rented campground. Everyday realities of war were washed away by the water from the river, where we went swimming sometimes even five times a day. The only downside, however, was that it was then even harder to send the children back after the camp was over…