\n<\/p>\n
A record sum of 1 million euros was raised at the
\nFestival of Christmas Trees auctioned on 8th December by the Save
\nthe Children NGO. 22 trees were decorated by well-known Romanian artists and
\ndesigners. The money raised will be used to provide social and educational
\nsupport to vulnerable children at severe risk of poverty and social exclusion.<\/p>\n
Organised in partnership with the National Museum of
The Festival of Christmas Trees has become a
<\/p>\n
George Roman also mentioned some of the VIPs who have
<\/p>\n
I’d like to start with Doina Levintza, an
<\/p>\n
The Christmas trees put up for auction are each one of
<\/p>\n
Let’s say it’s a useful sum, for it allows us to
<\/p>\n
Thanks to the Festival of Christmas Trees, more than
<\/p>\n
Such examples are the educational programmes,
<\/p>\n
Also, more than 100 school libraries were equipped
<\/p>\n
In Romania, the risk of poverty and social exclusion has
<\/p>\n
Let it be clear that we are the country with the
Charitable auction held by Save the Children organisation raises 1 million euros.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":586683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-623875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nArt of Romania, the auction was now in its 20th year. George Roman,
\na programme director at Save the Children, tells us more:<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nfashionable charity among companies and entrepreneurs with sufficient resources
\nto be able to support programmes for children. At each edition, around 20-25
\nChristmas trees designed by famous designers are put up for auction. The trees
\ncan then be admired for a week or more in the venues where the auction is held,
\nusually hotels, the Parliament Palace a few times, and in recent years at the
\nNational Museum of Art of Romania. On gala night, the trees are put up for
\nauction by business people or representatives of companies we have already
\nworked with before or who wish to help the Save the Children Organisation run
\nits educational programmes for children.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nhelped the organisation:<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nextraordinary artist who every year since 2001 has designed for us some
\nextraordinary trees. The sum raised with her trees is probably the highest.
\nMany people from the world of sports have helped by taking part in the
\nauctions, such as Horia Tec\u0103u, Ilie N\u0103stase, Ion \u021airiac, Nadia Com\u0103neci, who
\ntook part in two or three editions, Gabriela Szabo and Simona Halep. TV stars
\nwho have helped include Andreea Esca and Andreea Raicu, who have in fact been
\nhosting the auction for a few years, as well as Smiley and C\u0103t\u0103lin and Andra
\nM\u0103ru\u021b\u0103. In the first edition we benefited from the help of the British and
\nSwedish ambassadors.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\na kind. This year, the two most successful each raised 140,000 euros. More than
\n9 million euros have been raised through this event across all editions. Is
\nthis a lot, or on the contrary, very little compared with what is needed?
\nGeorge Roman: <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nmultiply our activities in many communities and we can only do this depending
\non how much we collect every year. Some of the programmes we run and which
\ninvolve long-term intervention may require as much as 300-400,000 euros. The
\nresults are extraordinary, for we are all aware of the quality of education
\navailable in rural areas. A PISA survey published a few days ago shows a great
\ngap between the results of children made vulnerable by poverty and those living
\nin advantaged environments, a gap amounting to 3 school years. So our
\nprogrammes are targeted to these areas, because that’s where they are most
\nneeded.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n200,000 children will be able to benefit from the Save the Children programmes.
\nGeorge Roman explains:<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nespecially those referring to remedial education, intended to give a second
\nchance to children who have abandoned school a few years ago and who cannot be
\neasily reintegrated into the system without special classes; a programme called
\nSchool after School, which also provides a hot meal to children in many
\ncommunities. Almost 150,000 children who benefited from social and economic
\nsupport or programmes to prevent school drop-out were reintegrated into the
\nschool system. We are also running programmes for pre-school children, called
\nthe Summer Kindergarten, mainly in Romania’s poorest communities, where there
\nare no nursery schools and where the 2-3 months of classes before starting
\nschool are crucial. Studies show that school drop-out in the first years of
\nschool is precisely the result of the lack of training in the pre-school years and this is why the
\nSummer Kindergarten programmes are a priority for us, so far having been able
\nto provide assistance to 10,000 children in isolated villages in Romania.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nwith tens of thousands of books, classrooms were renovated and refurbished,
\ntens of thousands of children received school supplies and their parents
\nreceived assistance, for it is almost impossible to design activities for the
\nschool education of children without taking into account their families. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nalways been much higher in the rural areas compared with the urban areas. The
\nrecent PISA report of the OECD underlines that without additional investment in
\nthe areas struggling with structural poverty, the gaps will become even wider.
\nGeorge Roman, a programme director for Save the Children, warns:<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nlowest investment in education and it is only through gradual increase in
\ninvestments that we can reach the European average. At the moment, Romania
\ninvests 3-3.2% of its GDP in education, while the European average is around
\n5%. So there’s a lot of catching up to do for a school in the rural area to
\nlook exactly like one in the urban environment. It’s the most decent thing a
\ngovernment can do for Romanian children. No child should be doomed to poverty
\nand lack of good education because of where they are born!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"