This holiday season, our thoughts turn to all the children in the world who don’t have a safe, loving home this year. It’s estimated that 153 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents and are classified as orphans or vulnerable children. For these children, life is not an opportunity to grow and learn, dream or play or be part of a loving family, instead it is a lonely struggle for survival.
But there is hope.
For the last 20 years, Ecologia Youth Trust has supported many vulnerable and disadvantaged children to grow up in a safe, loving environment. Children who would have grown up alone and uncared for if Ecologia Youth Trust hadn’t been able to help.
Our work continues to change lives for children like Daniel and Joseph, who are now cared for at Sky Is The Limit Children’s Centre, in Uganda, just one of the projects supported by Ecologia Youth Trust.
Daniel was just two months old when his mother died, leaving him and his older brother Joseph to be cared for by their father. Sadly, their father died shortly after, leaving the little boys all alone in the world. Fortunately Sky Is The Limit was able to provide the boys with the home, love and care every child deserves.
Daniel’s favourite subject is mathematics and he loves riding a bicycle and playing football. He makes his own footballs out of banana fibre. Joseph loves animals and wants to be a vet when he grows up. He says “I am happy I’ve got a family here, where we all live as brothers and sisters.”
Four year old twins, Vasya and Vanya’s lives changed forever when they came to Kitezh Children’s Community last year.
The two little boys had been living in an orphanage because their parents were unable to care for them. When they arrived at Kitezh in May 2014, they were withdrawn and hardly spoke or smiled. Most of the words they knew were swear words and the only colour they could identify was black.
After just a year with their new foster parents Vlad and Irina, the boys are thriving. They laugh and play like typical four year olds and love helping out on Kitezh’s farm, where they spend time with the animals and know the names of all the tools and machinery even better than the names of colours!
We still need your support to help children like Daniel, Joseph, Vasya and Vanya fulfil their potential and have the childhood they deserve. By making a donation or joining our child sponsorship scheme, we invite you to support us in enabling disadvantaged children to fulfil their potential.
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Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Hogmanay!
Join our dedicated team of volunteers and experience the joy of giving back, while making a meaningful impact in the lives of individuals and the community
Your contribution has the power to make a difference in the lives of those in need, enabling us to continue our vital work and create positive change
“Building a world where every young person thrives.”
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*Names have been changed according to our child protection policy.
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Susie has 30+ experience as a creative copywriter, editor, and proofreader, starting out as a 20-year-old copywriter in the Mad Men world of early 1990s advertising in South Africa. Ever since, she’s had a love affair with creative conceptualisation, thinking outside of the box, writing to a deadline, and being thrown in the deep end!
She took an MSc in Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University as a mature student, in 2015, and continues to keep herself busy working as a copy-editor, proofreader and copywriter in book publishing, corporate communications, and publishing project management.
Apart from her love of working with independent authors, Susie has a fondness for working in the third sector and likes to use her corporate communications and marketing experience to support projects close to her heart. She has lived and worked in the Findhorn area for 25 years, and has been involved in a number of third sector projects and organisations, and family businesses.
Working at Ecologia Youth Trust helps Susie to live in integrity with her values of supporting the next generation to be the best that they can be, and she sees it as a way to give back to Mama Africa, the beloved continent on which she was born.
Ellen joined the Ecologia team in June 2018 as Marketing and Communications Manager. Ellen has lived in Scotland for 6 years and has worked for non-profit and charitable organisations across varied fields. She currently shares her passion for helping young people through Ecologia Youth Trust and she works as a dancer and dance teacher in her spare time.
Robyn is the Associate Director of International Projects, having previously worked within the team as a Project Development and Marketing Officer from April 2019 until May 2021. As Associate Director, Robyn is co-leading the International side of Ecologia with Founder and Director, Liza Hollingshead, bringing a new energy into Ecologia as they look towards the future of the charity.
Liza is the founder of Ecologia and Director of International Projects. She was born and educated in South Africa and worked there as a high school teacher. She moved to live in the Findhorn Community in 1974. She started Ecologia in 1995 after being introduced to Dmitry Morozov, the founder of Kitezh Children’s Community in Russia, and was inspired to support the community in its mission to rescue orphaned children from institutions and give them homes, families and education in a supportive environment.
This led to projects supporting disadvantaged youth and children in South East Asia and in East Africa. TRead more about Liza’s story here.
