beginnings

Following my fund raising cycle trip to France, I donated some money to a Ukrainian group based in Slough who ran an aid lorry over to Ukraine. A few years later I had raised more money to help Chernobyl victims but I had no specific project in mind. However I saw a BBC documentry about a Ukrainian lady living in England, she came from the Ukrainian town of Chernigov. Nina Rogerson was her name and with a friend she had set up a children's refuge in her home town to help young victims of Chernobyl. I contacted Nina and arranged to meet her, she was a very kind person and was totally commited to helping the children. I decided to give the money I had in my fund to help her chernobyl children's refuge in Chernigov.
I continued with my annual Chernobyl Vigil's in Glasgow's George Square and trying to decide what was the best way to continue to help children in Ukraine cope with their radioactive Legacy.
Should I go down to Slough to meet the Ukrainian aid group, or try to visit Nina Rogerson's refuge in Chernigov and try to help directly.
Then in 1994 a letter came in to my possession ,it was from a young Ukrainian student studying
English at a university in the Ukrainian capitol Kiev. " Mr. Gillies who are you,what is your profession can you help our hospital in Malin, we have nothing" This was the beginning of my Malin children's project,that began that day, and has continued till the present time.