The event was organized by Partners Albania and held on 4th December. Three projects received financial support of a total of EUR 13,556 (ALL 1,681,874) which was raised - almost double of the set target.

Giving Circle  is an event which brings together individuals from different fields in order to use their expertise, time as well as financial resources to support specific projects or causes that bring social change within particular communities. More importantly, it is also a way of giving the public an opportunity to assume an active role in deciding which aspects of the community they will support and help its development. It is held in over 16 countries, and last night Albania became one of them.

At the event in Tirana, donors from the corporate sector, civil society, media, arts and other fields all made their contribution in support of the following 3 projects:

  • A kindergarten for children in the village Blliçe (Një kopsht për fëmijët e fshatit Blliçe) - an initiative by the organization Vision in Peshkopi;
     
  • Adopt a Therapy (Adopto një terap) - an initiative by the Down Syndrome Albania Foundation in Tirana;
     
  • Education and integration of Roma and Egyptian children through sport (Edukimi dhe integrimi i fëmijëve të komunitetit Rom dhe Egjiptian përmes sportit) - by the Egyptian Community Association for the Rights of the Child in Shkodra.

Vision’s initiative will provide a kindergarten for 24 children aged 3 to 6, which mostly come from socially vulnerable families. With no kindergarten in the village, these children currently stay at the only elementary school in Blliçe, in very poor conditions, in a room without a proper floor or suitable furniture. A total of EUR 4,800 (ALL 596,000) was donated to this project.

Adopt a Therapy will provide support (including speech, physical and developmental therapy) for 38 children with Down syndrome, children on the autistic spectrum and other learning difficulties. This project received a total of EUR 4,340 (ALL 538,874).

The Education and integration project will help train over 30 children of the Roma and Egyptian community, to play at the youth soccer championship in Shkodra. This project is meant to set a positive example by promoting representation for Roma and Egyptian community members, decreasing the number of children from these communities leaving school, minimizing bullying and promoting “fair-play” rules in the field and in life for these children. The EUR 4,400 (ALL 547,000) will be used to provide sports equipment and training facilities.

You can still support these projects by donating and the information on how to do that can be found here.