Safe Homes for Children
 
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The New Beginnings Team

The New Beginnings story really began in 1986 following the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in Ukraine. Due to the heart breaking death toll that followed there was a surge in orphaned children in Ukraine. The aftermath of the tragedy, combined with the country’s unstable government, meant that Ukraine couldn’t facilitate the scale of support required, leaving many children living on the streets.

Pat Harrison MBE was made aware of the crisis through her church group and went on to help some of the children who were brought to the UK for care in order to allow them to breathe clean air for three weeks.

Pat later went on to visit Ukraine 1995 to better understand the conditions that children in the area were living in and was so distraught by what she found that she came back to the UK to set up New Beginnings and began fundraising in 2001.

Working to make a change in a country of such depression has been no mean feat and Pat has taken on none other than the Kiev local officials to stand strong and declare the need for change to protect the safety and future of their local children.

Not only have her efforts been successful (and so greatly appreciated) but she even became the first foreigner to be awarded Kiev Woman of the Year, in 2000 she received her MBE and in 2003 was awarded Cumbria Woman of the year.

Read more about the Start of New Beginnings here.

New Beginnings was co-founded by Paul Smith who Pat reached out to on her return to the UK with the tragic news of the conditions in Ukraine in 1995, the extent of which was very much being kept out of the headlines at the time. Paul is a Kendal-based (Cumbria) solicitor and devoted charity supporter who has been at the heart of New Beginnings since its dawn.

New Beginnings Trustees: Paul Smith, Andrey Donsky, Alexander Donskoy, Ivan Bespalov, David Miles, Graham Dawson.

New Beginnings Patrons: The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC, The Hon. Mr Justice Turner, Martin Bell OBE, RT Rev James Newcombe Lord Bishop of Carlisle.

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New Beginnings for Children in Ukraine

Our charity was founded in response to the despair in Ukraine of the 80s and 90s, although sadly the crisis is still very much the case today with the current unrest with Russia

The conditions of care centres such as orphanages, street shelters, hospitals, schools and rehabilitation centres were so poor that children were living on the streets and in sewers with no medical care, education or hope for their futures.

Since 2001 New Beginnings has been fundraising to help children living in Ukraine, particularly in the capital of Kiev. Donations received over the years have been used to improve the facilities in a number of care centres as well as allowing us to open the doors to a brand new foster home, Genesis House.

Genesis House opened its doors in 2004 and our aim for this home was to provide a safe place for children, as well as ending the cycle of despair by giving these children the life skills to create safe places for their own families in years to come. We strive to be an example to the local government showing how children living in Foster care benefit as opposed to institutional care.

Find out more about the work of New Beginnings in our Success Stories.

 
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New Beginnings in Malawi

In 2013 we were made aware of the inspiring mission of Medic Malawi, a British charity working in Malawi. New Beginnings are delighted to be able to offer our support building initially a hostel for girls.

A school in Malawi was seeing its students have to walk up to 20 miles just to travel from their home to the school. During this journey many girls were at risk of being attacked – in a 12 month period 5 girls were raped and 3 became pregnant. As a result, parents were taking their children out of education to keep them safe and in turn their futures were greatly impacted.

Headmaster Michael was driven to building a dormitory on-site at the school so that children could board and avoid the risk of being attacked, without sacrificing their education.

Initially, New Beginnings funded a dormitory block, kitchen and dining facility with beds, bedding and the required fixtures and fittings and since then the option to board has become so popular that 2 more class rooms have been built.

The catchment area of the school has now increased drastically, and we continue to support the poorest children by funding a bursary scheme which is run by the headmaster.

 

 
 

New Beginnings is run entirely by volunteers and trustees and 97% of all donations made go straight towards making a change for children in despair.

 
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