June 22, 2021

In 2021 BEARR’s Small Grants Scheme sought applications from across the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region for projects to “reduce the social isolation of people living with disadvantage”, an issue which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We did not specify the beneficiaries: instead, applicants were asked to describe the problems faced by the people they wished to help. 

BEARR asked for projects that would:  

• involve partnership with, or extend collaboration to, other local organisations;  
• have an imaginative or unusual approach to reducing social isolation; and 
• try to extend provision of support to other groups of people facing disadvantage or marginalisation resulting from their age, ability, ethnicity, gender or sexuality, or because of geography. 

Response

We had a fantastic response, receiving 227 applications in total. Over 60% came from Ukraine, with at least one application from every other country which BEARR covers.

Chosen grantees

The level of response made BEARR’s trustees’ task a difficult one, but 15 fantastic projects have been selected:

• Association of Wives and Mothers of Soldiers Participating in ATO (Ukraine): self-help groups for vulnerable elderly women in remote areas of Donetsk region. Read their project report here.
• Gender-Vector (Kyrgyzstan): to support access to jobs and safe housing for young people in LGBT community in Chui region. Read their project report here.
• Girls in Tech (Armenia): digital skills and support for young women IDPs from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Read their project report here.
• Inclusive Studies (Lutsk, Ukraine): training volunteers to work with disabled children to provide theatre activities to support socialisation. Read their project report here.
• Kids are Kids (Moscow, Russia): summer camp for marginalised and migrant families. Read their project report here.
• Kuhhoi Pomir (Tajikistan): initiatives to reduce social isolation of live-stock breeders in isolated communities in Pamir mountains.
• MIR – Office for Initiatives Development (Khujand, Tajikistan): younger and older people in self-help groups to support vulnerable people affected by COVID-19. Read their project report here. *
• Next (Odessa, Ukraine): using hospital facilities to assist children with mental disorders, especially eating disorders. Read their project report here.
• People Plus (Belarus): support for older people with HIV, based in Svetlogorsk. Read their project report here.
• Society of People with Disabilities TAUR (Moldova): reducing social isolation of people with disabilities. Read their project report here.
• Tvory Dobropillya (Ukraine): combatting isolation among the elderly in a small rural town in Donetsk region through cooking classes with teenagers. Read their project report here.
• Ukrainian Down Syndrome Organisation (Ukraine): support for people aged 16-35 with Down Syndrome, including access to employment and social participation. Read their project here.
• Vlada Brusilovska Charitable Foundation (Ukraine): improving the design of hospital play areas for children with neurological disorders. Read their project report here.
• Winds of Change (Ukraine): creation of a needlework social enterprise in Odesa for Roma women and girls. Read their project report here. *
• Zhytomyr Regional Association of Social Services (Ukraine): self-help groups in small towns for single mothers and victims of domestic violence. Read their project report here. *

* These three CSOs are repeat grantees. Each has been awarded additional funding to help improve its organisational resilience as they adjust to working under COVID-19 conditions.

BEARR is delighted that both the Just Trust and the now-dissolved Tushinskaya Trust are contributing towards funding this year’s grantees. The Tushinskaya Trust’s contribution will go towards one of the projects working with young people. Additionally, we are grateful our major donor’s contribution towards funding the scheme.

We are looking forward to working with this year’s grantees and sharing their project updates with BEARR’s subscribers!

June 2021