The wonderful work of charities clearly makes its mark in Romania this summer, with many British charities and individuals signing up to help the poorer communities or those affected by illness.
I was particularly moved to learn about an upcoming charity walk from Bucharest to Brasov aimed at raising awareness about and funds for injured people from the sports’ world, in particular rugby players. One British national and one Romanian of Hungarian origin will do the walk over 4 days, 22-25 September, in support of the charity Friends of Romanian Rugby (FoRR). The charity was formed when George Balta, a young Romanian rugby player, sustained a serious spinal injury while playing rugby and was tragically left paralyzed from the chest down. Since then the charity, helped by many companies, the Romanian Rugby Federation, the Romanian Olympic Committee and individuals too many to mention, have financially and spiritually helped George and his family through this extremely difficult period in their lives.
The piece de resistance of these efforts came to fruition early this year when George and his family moved out of their tiny basement flat into a purpose built house funded by FoRR and friends. FoRR has strong links with Hearts and Balls a charity in Scotland which also supports injured rugby players and who made a very generous contribution to the labour costs of finishing the house for George and his family.
The walk is going to take place over 4 stages and will start from the Dubliner Irish Pub in Bucuresti and end in Dean’s Irish Pub in Brasov – a total of 168 kilometres. If you would be interested to join this initiative, you could sponsor the walk, sponsor a stage or simply join the two fundraisers. I understand they plan to make this an annual event – do you think it is a good idea?