A Branch of Medicine & Chernobyl (UK)
Registered Charity No (1039688)
The Rogachev Families Association is a voluntary community organisation founded in 1994. supporting families who have children with special needs.
Motto of the Association: Anything we need may wait -
Aim of the organisation: To make a difference in the lives of the children and their families, giving them the opportunities that have been taken from them.
Disabilities range from: Cerebral Palsy -
The association also assists families financially during times of hardship and provides a programme of care and nursing for grave and serious conditions.
Day Centre: The association rents space from the Rogachev Education department. Disabled children, their parents and members of the families meet regularly in the building. They discuss their individual problems, share experiences and talk about new ways to improve their children’s health. For them the, centre helps to take away the strain of the difficulty of caring for children with disabilities. They are a great psychological support to one another, which is especially vital for single parents who no longer have to struggle alone.
The centre has a very trusting environment. Children, young people and their parents can attend the centre at any time, with any problem and feel very much at home there.
215 families use the centre.
They all have disabled children ranging from 1 to 28 years of age
Day centre activities: Special massage sessions – art classes – Personal & household skills – computer clubs – music clubs & special concerts and exhibitions.
Classes are run by specialist teachers qualified to work with disabled children.
The children are encouraged to enter festivals and competitions including in Gomel and Minsk and have been very successful in the past.
Committee: The association is run by a committee (board of parents) consisting of twelve members each with disabled children or young persons of their own who are responsible for all decision making including the distribution of funds led by a chairman, accountant and secretary.
Transporting the Children: Transport in the form of a mini-
Funding: There is no state funding; they are totally dependent upon member contributions and charitable donations.
The association was in serious danger of losing its centre as previous sponsors had been forced to pull out resulting in a curtailment of the facilities offered. Belarus Aid has agreed to fund the association for a minimum two years at a total cost of £16,000
Children participating in classes at the centre to help with their development
plus examples of some of the work that is produced by them
