Wheelchairs delivered!

Dear donor:

So here we are again, over half a year since we launched our wheelchair campaign in the GlobalGiving March Accelerator and you made your life-changing donation to deliver wheelchairs to the poorest country in Europe. We did it!

The delightful news is that, with your help, we REACHED OUR CAMPAIGN GOAL! Additional funds came in after the campaign period and a total of 80 caring people helped us raise the full £5,000 | $7,235! And that covered the delivery cost of a total of 202reconditioned wheelchairs from the UK to Moldova, and then some!

Mid-September volunteers loaded 160wheelchairs together with over 1000pieces of specialised equipmentsuch as walker frames, toilet seats, commodes, crutches, and more in York, UK, On this occasion, MAD-Aid partnered with Physionet, an award-winning charity led by Peter Thomson, which also collects physiotherapy and mobility equipment and distributes it to developing countries across the globe. Physionet trustees and their volunteers alongside MAD-Aid volunteers did the physical loading into the truck. From the funds raised, MAD-Aid covered the expense of collecting and refurbishing the equipment, supplied the truck, and paid the trucking costs to Moldova. You can watch the loading in this one-minute video.

The truck arrived in Moldova just in time for the Marathon for All, the very first marathon organised in the capital Chisinau for wheelchairs users and other people with disabilities. It’s hard to believe this happened in Moldova, a country where just five years ago most people with special needs were totally isolated. This is inclusion! This is progress! Thanks to the timely appearance of these wheelchairs from the UK, a few more children and youth were able to take part in the marathon.

You’ll recall that in April we already sent off one full truckload with 42wheelchairs along with 20hospital beds and 20examination couchesthat were urgently needed.

In a separate campaign, in September MAD-Aid welcomed once more eight CHUWA trucks loaded with humanitarian aid—six from England and two from Ireland—to Moldova to deliver smiles to children. This semi-annual event is possible through the close partnership between MAD-Aid and Communication Workers Union Humanitarian Aid (CWUHA), where MAD-Aid coordinated the logistics and oversaw the distribution of aid to three centers, a hospital, and four villages.

MAD-Aid now turns attention to its third core program—establishing a modern elder care residence next to its already running day care centre for children with special needs. Phase 1 involves major capital renovations. You can learn more about this program (and how you can help, if so inclined) on our website or on our Facebook page (links below).

THANK YOU once again for believing in us—be assured that YOU have Made a Difference!

 

WIN-WIN for everyone!

WIN-WIN for everyone!

We are excited to announce that this week the MAD-Aid volunteers based on Isle of Wight managed to collect vital equipment from St Marys Hospital and Early Mountbatten Hospice. We would like to express our gratitude to these organisation for servicing and donating to us many tonnes of re-usable equipment.

The 20 beds, examination couches, bathroom chairs, patient chairs, respiratory machines and much other disabled equipment are getting ready to be delivered to Moldova.

You can contribute to support paying for transport or volunteer for loading the truck.

MAD-Aid’s efforts are a triple win for everyone; the NHS and Hospice are saving money and getting the feel-good factor by donating equipment, the equipment does not have to go to landfill, and many people and hospital wards in Moldova will benefit from it years to come

MAD-Aid Opens New HQ in East Cowes

MAD-Aid, the Isle of Wight’s only medical aids collection and redistribution charity, is excited to announce the opening of its new headquarters on York Avenue, East Cowes, on 22nd of March.

MAD-Aid provides a unique service — we take redundant / out-of-date medical equipment that the NHS cannot use anymore, reconditions where necessary, and then distributes it to hospitals and disabled and needy children in Moldova. Our service of collecting the equipment from them helps Island healthcare providers save the expense of disposing it, and then also helps save the environment.

On our first day of opening, we were visited by Councillor Karl Love, MAD-Aid trustees and volunteers, and members of local businesses.

Victoria Dunford, founder of MAD-Aid, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s 2016 New Year’s Honours list, said: “This is an important milestone in our journey. As populations get older and technology moves on, we anticipate there will be an increased need for our service on the Island. The new centre will enable us to collect more medical aids from healthcare organizations around the Island in a more efficient way.”

Victoria continued: “In the five years we have been operating, we have already collected and redistributed over 350 tonnes of medical equipment, saving Island organizations storage, disposal and transportation costs. By re-using this equipment elsewhere we prevent it going to landfill here on the Island or in UK. This reduces the environmental impact of medical aid disposal, as some items can take over 30 years to breakdown, such as battery operated wheelchairs that would otherwise need specialist disposal.”

MAD-Aid specialises in the collection and subsequent onward delivery of unwanted medical aids, for example, wheelchairs, walking frames, beds, bedside lockers, crutches, as well as supporting a number of other programmes, such as delivering unwanted hotel beds to orphanages in developing countries.

The new HQ also has a shop window, selling hand crafted items offered in partnership with sabirian.com, hand crafted items made by children at our Phoenix Centre in Moldova, and Isle of Wight landscape canvasses provided by our trustee, Ann Lewis.

Deliver 200 UK Wheelchairs to Moldovan Youth

There are 1000s of children who rarely see the sky, homebound, for the mere lack of a wheelchair. With your help, we can, for GBP26 / USD36 a child, equip 200+ poor Moldovan youth with refurbished UK wheelchairs, giving them mobility, social inclusion, and access to education. The project is win-win: for the UK healthcare sector that saves on the disposal expense, funds that can better be used for patient care, and for the Moldovan youth who are given a chance at a brighter, more joyful future.

WE NEED ***YOUR*** HELP! Support us NOW, today, because a strong kick-off day will make MAD-Aid a permanent partner on GlobalGiving, which opens other doors to raising funds for us to deliver more medical aid and equipment to hospitals in one of the poorest countries in Europe.

CLICK and DONATE now. Oh, and share this campaign with family and friends.

Be Inspired!

MAD-Aid started in 2012 with a MAD Moldovan woman living in the United Kingdom. That is as in MAD – passionate – about giving back to her country of origin.

 

MAD-Aid has been able to flourish only with support of many people who care – trustees and supporters – and has aimed to involve more Moldovans.

 

In 2015 alongside the existing trustee, Iurii Bivol, a Moldovan and self-made businessman in London, joined MAD-Aid’s board of trustees.

 

And now, in 2017, MAD-Aid steps into yet another era – with yet another great Moldovan supporter. Meet Vadim Turcanu – a serial entrepreneur and author.

Vadim, so much like everyone else at MAD-Aid, wants to make a difference in Moldova. He only learned about our charity a few months ago and immediately he generously offered to donate the sales proceeds of his first 100 books – a limited edition – to MAD-Aid.

 

Buy Here

 

Please donate the minimum of £30 and Vadim personally will sign and ship you the book.

 

You can help both yourself and the mission of MAD-Aid by pressing the link and buying a signed copy of Vadim’s book. Be assured it will inspire and change your life.

 

In “No One’s Business” a courageous young man from Moldova walks for six months to reach a destination he knows nothing about, a new country, where even going to prison is a better option than what he left behind…

 

Vadim Turcanu is a successful entrepreneur, judo champion and philanthropist who shares his own vision to make better life choices. The author shares his true story as it happened to him, about when he walked barefoot for six months with nothing but his own dream to be a winner at the game of life.

 

If you are thinking, “why do I need to know his story?” the answer is very simple: you can learn more about who you are and how to overcome limiting beliefs and social conditioning. But the key message of this book is that you are a migrant yourself, even if you have never left the comfort of your home to look for a better life, even after you have achieved what was expected of you, because you still have the right to be curious about who you are and what is obtainable when you open your mind to other people’s experience. You learn what they did to become so successful.

 

You see, migration is not only about geography; it’s not limited to moving from a village to a city, or from one country to another. It’s about transforming from where you are in your life at present to where you want to be.

 

PS: When buying the book please insert your mail and address so we can post it quickly. Thank you

Happy New Year from all of us at MAD-Aid!

2016 has been a challenging year globally, and for us too. Despite the challenges, we’ve carried on Making a Difference to the people in Moldova that we support.

Here are some of the things we achieved in 2016

We sent three trucks full of Aid and delivered their contents to the local hospital in Riscani, to disabled people in the North of Moldova, to the Mother and Child Hospital, Care Home in Riscani, and to other vulnerable people in the community.

The Phoenix Centre has continued to transform the lives of the children who use it. They are becoming personalities, full of life, having fun and making friends. For the first time in their lives they have been out on a variety of excursions, from a trip to the local swimming bath to a visit to a Pizza restaurant.

34 children have benefitted from Phoenix, through over 1800 visits. They receive education, activities, transport to and from home, food, love and care. Thanks to our Partners and the local community, each child received 7 Christmas presents. They have lived in isolation for so long, we’re pleased to have facilitated this for them.

We also opened the Phoenix Centre inclusive playground, the first of its type in the Country, which has a range of disability-friendly play options.

The Early Intervention and Rehabilitation Centre has provided therapies for 120 children in nearly 1300 therapy sessions. The therapy treatments were tailored to the needs of each child and therefore varied in length and complexity.

26 children have been assessed by a British orthopaedic specialist, Dr Bassel El-Osta, who donated his time and funded his own travel to help these children. Eight of them have surgery programmed for April 2017 with Doctor El-Osta alongside a Moldovan surgical team. Other children were sent for further investigation, and some have had therapy specially tailored for them, to be given at the Early Intervention Centre.

We have set up a Volunteer Programme to help the centre run more effectively.
In partnership with other organisations, we have sent aid to Romania, Africa and Ukraine. We also assisted the Communication Workers Humanitarian Aid (CWUHA) in sending 2 humanitarian aid convoys to Moldova, a total of 12 trucks.

Last but not least, we created a new partnership with Dent Aid. From 2017, they will work in Moldova providing dental equipment, training and volunteers.

MAD-Aid’s 2017 started with sad news and great news.

One of our founding trustees, our Treasurer John Barnes, passed away on New Year’s Day. John was at the heart of the charity, always professional, fun to be with, helpful and determined. We will miss him hugely and it will be hard to learn to go on without him. He was with us at our last Trustee meeting in November 2016, and throughout our development to date, he had kept our accounts meticulously.

John visited Moldova for our opening in 2015, and intended to return. We will remember his contribution to MAD-Aid with huge gratitude and appreciation, and we are very sad to lose him.

John Barnes, former trustee

Our exciting news is that our founder, Victoria Dunford has been nominated for a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to children with disabilities in northern Moldova. This is a huge honour for MAD-Aid and reflects the work and support of all of you.

Thank you for being with us during 2016. We hope to inspire you to stay for many years to come.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and fulfilling year ahead.

Update for MAD-Aid program – Phoenix Centre

Has been a long time since we came with any updates – How are we doing? How are the children at Phoenix doing?

Well, MAD-Aid has been very busy alongside its partners for last year:

  • Recycling and delivering wheelchairs
  • Running Phoenix Centre that provided so much needed services for disabled children
  • Becoming a member of Accessible for All Campaign, building of new date of base for people with disability in 2 districts of Moldova, 200 people have been evaluated and a case put together.
  • Got 3 children at Phoenix sponsored – more sponsors needed!
  • Offering training for staff and parents
  • Continuing the partnership with CWUHA and assisting with humanitarian convoys to Moldova
  • Introducing the fundraising concept in Moldova

Much more information you can find on our new website, please give us any feedback and input how we can improve it! We just launched it, and you are first one to know!

www.mad-aid.org.uk

Thank you very much for yours continue to support, so much needed to keep the services going.

Moldova it is in even more financial difficulty so the centre is running only from fundraising events and donations from our supporters.

HM British Ambasador running for Phoenix Centre

Ambassador Words:

 

On Sunday 17 April I ran the 10.5 km race as part of this year’s Chisinau marathon. My target was to complete the course in less than one hour. It was closer than I expected – 59 mins and 59 seconds! It’s a good job I sprinted at the end!

Running for the Phoenix Centre, Riscani
MAD-Aid is a charity based in the Isle of Wight which helps children with disabilities in the Republic of Moldova to gain mobility and access to education.

Last year,  MAD-Aid transformed part of a disused activity centre in the northern town of Riscani into a modern daycare centre for children with disabilities. Your sponsorship of me in last year’s Chisinau marathon, contributed to that amazing achievement and the centre opened last September in the presence of the Moldova Prime Minister and over 30 volunteers from the UK.

MAD-Aid is now raising funds for the children’s playground with rubber floor and artificial grass. I would like to contribute by raising money for a special wheelchair swing so that for the first time these amazing children can experience that simple thrill that most of us take for granted and first experienced as young children.

You can find more about the Phoenix Centre in this short video:

MAD-Aid is it very great full for HM Ambassador of Great Britain to Moldova, Phil Batson for raising money towards Phoenix Centre.
He managed with some of your help to raise 75% of his target, we still can help him reached 100%!

 

Sponsor Now!

Happy New Year

What A year has been for MAD-Aid and for each of us involved in it!

As Nelson Mandala says, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead”. What we will be remembered for, it’s not going to be a number of iPhones we owned or a number of sports cars in our garage. The thing we will be remembered for is the legacy behind us, the number of people’s lives we made the difference.

Alongside our partners, we certainly have made a difference and transformed people’s lives in 2015. From a small charity organisation that collected and delivered redundant equipment, we embarked on life changing project. A project that is transforming radically the lives of children with disabilities and their families, a project that is changing the community approach on volunteering, a project that educates the society about disability and the hidden potential in the forgotten/ isolated children.
MAD-Aid achievements during 2015:

  • Continued recycling and delivering so much needed wheelchairs, walking frames and other specialised equipment
  • Delivered medical aid to Neuro hospital in Chisinau, trauma hospital and oncology hospital
  • Reached around 1000 children from vulnerable families who received clothes, school stationeries, school bags, shoes, food and household items from south to north of Moldova.
  • Opened first Day centre in north of Moldova for children with disabilities
  • Open the first Early Intervention Centre in North of Moldova to provide non-medical therapies for children with disabilities 0-5 years old
  • Created local employment in the region with high unemployment rate
  • Provided the furniture and equipment for the Community Center in Mihaileni Riscani, and provided consultancy on setting up an accessible modern facility for elderly people
  • Continued working on forming more partnerships in order to Make the Difference in Moldova and Romania
  • Adhering to Accessible for All campaign to lobby the correct infrastructure in Moldova for building of accessibility facility such as ramps, disabled bathrooms and so on
  • Welcomed Mr. Iurii Bivol as new trustee
  • Receiving the Moldova State Award: Medal for “Civic Merit” for all the work MAD-Aid contributed in Moldova.

All these projects are coming with its own challenges, and especially the sustainability and continuity of our work.
As soon as we opened the centre, we adopted its beneficiaries, the children that have been isolated and abandoned for years.
At this time of the year when every child is waiting for Father Christmas and when the magic of the lights is giving hope and determination, we asked the children to write their first letter to santa.
Their responses made me shake literally, as every child older than 11 wanted just one thing: Phoenix never to be closed and to allow them to attend the centre. I want them to be children, I want them to want to have a toy, cars and sweets, but instead, they wanted this social inclusion we offering at the centre…This inclusion should be their birth rights, not a privilege we offering.  After persuading them to ask for an object we got some little wishes, a small car, a bus, some sweets and one child want an Angel which would keep him safe.
Please join us on this live transformation projects, please be the Father Christmas for these children and help us keeping the Phoenix Open.  You still have time to Make a Difference in 2015 or to mark a day in the calendar for 2016 where you can change someone life.

As 2016 is coming, and the light of hope is filling our heart, MAD-Aid wishes you a happy, healthy, prosperous year ahead, a year that you will remember and cherish forever, a year that you will be remembered for.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!