Mriya Orphanage and St Nicholas Centre

In April 2022 Frontline Children’s Jordan Wylie and James Bingham travelled to Ukraine. They visited two orphanages that are hosting children from the frontline that have been displaced, traumatised, and seriously impacted by the ongoing conflict. Many children at these orphanages have special needs, others have lost their parents and have not spoken since they arrived at their new homes.

It became apparent that many of the orphanages in Ukraine were under pressure and needed additional support. Our team had read a news article about eighty-five orphans from besieged Donetsk being evacuated in the middle of the night and driven 800 miles across the country to the Mriya orphanage in Lviv. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10593947/Ukraine-Eighty-five-orphans-escape-800-miles-country-new-home-Lviv.html

Frontline Children decided to act and arranged to visit the Mriya orphanage to see if we could help. Although our team were warmly welcomed, they found the Mriya orphanage to be in a deplorable state. There were no classes or activities for the children who had no obvious stimulation. Much of the equipment was outdated or broken – beds and furniture needed replacing, and mattresses were stained, mouldy and damp. Unfortunately, a large influx of children due to the conflict had no doubt put considerable pressure on an already underfunded and broken institution.

At this orphanage, we have decided to focus on buying new mattresses, mattress protectors and fresh bedding for all the children. We have faced some challenges working with the orphanage but will continue to try and help the children.

Jordan and James also visited a second orphanage, the St. Nicholas multidisciplinary educational and rehabilitation centre. Again our team were warmly welcomed and received a full tour of the centre, meeting staff and dozens of children. Many of the young children required special one-to-one care due to their needs. Jordan and James found children being supported in a loving environment and actively engaged in the classroom, arts and crafts, sports and other activities. It was a happy and well-run centre but was also struggling with capacity issues, both in terms of beds and classroom space. Like the Mriya orphanage, they had received many new children due to the war which was putting considerable pressure on their centre.

In July Frontline Children provided direct support via a financial grant of £5,000 to the St. Nicholas centre, which will help increase capacity by contributing to the construction of an additional building/annex.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and supported our fundraising efforts. Our work continues and we’ll keep you updated on our progress as we continue to help the children of Ukraine.