About Us
Haven in Romania was founded in 1991 by Sylvia and Dennis Brown. It is a registered British charity incorporating a Romanian foundation, Haven Speranta Tuturor (Hope for all). The charity works in and around the Piatra Neamt area and in partnership with the Christian Baptist Church of Piatra Neamt. The charity is led by Sylvia Brown and supported by volunteers. Two Romanian Trustees organise and monitor the work undertaken by the HST foundation.
Silvia Day Centre
The Silvia Day Centre is founded on Christian principles and offers unique educational opportunities to children with special educational needs as well as support to their wider family. Each child has an individual learning plan tailored to build on their strengths in order to meet the needs presented by their learning difficulties. The centre base their provision on best educational practice and benefits from regular visits from specialist practitioners from the UK.
In 2014 a local oil company offered the opportunity for organisations to take part in a new and innovate community project offering sensory room therapy to children from the town of Piatra Neamt and also to children from the local orphanages. Over 100 organisations applied for this funding but we were delighted that the Silvia Day Centre was chosen to participate in the exciting project. In 2017 the centre was awarded an Excellency Diploma from the Town Hall of Piatra marking community gratitude for the activities and projects that take place. In the future we would like to expand the foundation to offer life skills training and support to older children.
Denis Day Centre
The Denis Day Centre offers a weekly meeting for the elderly with activities such as quizzes, celebration of birthdays and anniversaries as well as a cooked lunch. The charity also provides non-prescription medicines through a pharmacy set up in the basement of the church and between October and March the centre provides a meal for the homeless. We also organise occasional day trips for the group. Funding by the charity covers the meetings and trips as well as practical basic healthcare through the employment of carers who visit the elderly in the local villages. In the future we would like to offer more meetings for the elderly.
Other Projects
Youthwork; The charity supports youthwork with children from local villages, including helping to sponsor a summer camp called Voronet alongside the weekly/fortnightly clubs for young people. For a flavour of a camp, you can watch this highlights video on Youtube here.