BEARR News
BEARR Newsletter December 2025
December 2025 Dear friends and colleagues, As we reflect on the year gone by, we warmly thank our donors for their generous support and wish our partners and friends a joyful and healthy New Year, filled with hope, resilience and real achievements. In this December edition, we give an update on next year’s Small Grants …
Georgian civil society organisations in crisis
Armorer Wason, BEARR Adviser ‘I haven’t experienced this kind of repression; I grew up in post-Soviet Georgia. I’m finding it really hard to adjust. Our whole identity is under threat.’ In mid-September I spent time with two civil society organisation (CSO) leaders in Tbilisi. Nino (all names have been changed), the director of a well-respected …
Report: The BEARR Trust Annual Conference – November 14, 2025
Report by BEARR Trustee Sam Thorne Solidarity and stamina: how civil society builds and sustains resilience ‘Resilience is choosing hope, action and compassion when circumstances push towards fear and exhaustion, keeping on with positivity inspired by belief and resources, staying alive and true to personal values, and having the opportunity to act accordingly.’ This was …
Project report: “Volunteering Academy 2025”
Two grantees in the same city used their 2025 SGS Strand B grant from The BEARR Trust to run a joint “Volunteering Academy 2025” training and resilience-building programme. During the programme 30 staff and volunteers attended 10 in-person, six-hour sessions with experienced trainers. The programme covered topics most in-demand in the current challenging context: 1. …
Project report: A creative club that became a lifeline
Community Resilience Fund Grantee: Institute for Democracy, Moldova Project: To help Ukrainian refugees and Moldovan residents find stability through art A three-month initiative entitled “Creative Club for Adaptation and Community Cohesion”, supported by the The BEARR Trust, has concluded in Moldova. Its mission was simple yet vital: to help people who have lived through war, …
BEARR Newsletter October 2025
Displaced and local children in Zaporizhzhia find joy and connection through community activities supported by BEARR’s partners October 2025 Dear friends and colleagues, In this October edition, we’re delighted to share the latest update on our Ukraine Community Resilience Fund and an invitation to our Annual Conference on 14 November, where we’re pleased to announce this year’s speakers. You’ll …
Report: The BEARR Trust Autumn Lecture – October 14, 2025
Report by BEARR Trustee Sam Thorne Lecture title: “Is it all over for the rules-based international order?” Speakers: Dr Bobo Lo and Kadri Liik Moderated by Sir Roderic Lyne The BEARR Trust Autumn Lecture 2025 featured an hour of stimulating discussion between international relations expert Dr Bobo Lo and journalist and political analyst Kadri Liik, …
‘Stronger Together’ conference and exhibition
On 25 September Janet Gunn, BEARR trustee, attended a conference in London that brought together Ukrainian and British people working to support Ukrainian society during the war and Ukrainians now living in the UK as a consequence of it. Stalls advertised the work that many NGOs and groups were engaged in. The morning was devoted …
News Team Volunteers
Ann Lewis, BEARR Trustee Have you ever wondered where the News from the Region on the Home page of BEARR’s website and at the end of the newsletters comes from? Let me take you behind the scenes, highlighting the role played by our volunteers. Until 2022, our news offering focused very largely on Russia, and …
The BEARR Trust Annual Review 2024
Now available, the 2024 Annual Review presents a shorter, reader-friendly version of our annual accounts capturing the essence of our work over the past year. The review highlights key aspects of our efforts in 2024, including the achievements of our Ukraine Appeal, the summary of our Small Grants Scheme, and the various events and activities that brought …
