europe2europe.co.uk

 

We are a small Hampshire-based charity that’s twinned with a sister charity in Romania called Europa pentru Europa (Europe for Europe). This twinning is a two-way link as the country of Romania has a huge cultural, intellectual and spiritual heritage that remained largely forgotten & unappreciated in the West during the dark days of communism. For example, Romanians had an important role in the history and development of Impressionist art and sculpture.

 

The ethos of ‘Europe to Europe’ can be summed up in the words: “we don’t give a handout we give a hand up”. From its early days the charity has sought to empower people to flourish and take responsibility for their own lives. This empowerment is particularly seen in the charity’s work with young physically disabled children and adults, where the three aims are to develop character, educational achievement & the capacity to work. The charity seeks to empower marginalised people and to assist them to live independently in the community.

 

For over twenty years Graham Giles (the Charity’s founder & Chairman) spent much of his time living and working in Eastern Europe setting up various charity projects and international initiatives. Graham was also involved with the Romanian government in setting up a system of allowances (benefits) for those who because of their disability (of whatever kind) are unable to work full time. Additionally, Graham designed and set up a probation service for Romania, and he also initiated courses about social work & community justice at the Bucharest and Arad universities. Graham also completed strategic reports on juvenile justice for a number of former Eastern European Communist states. Graham was awarded an MBE for his services to disadvantaged children in Romania.

 

Graham made a decision about three or four years ago that he wanted to start using the significant advocacy skills and inter-governmental experience he gained over the past two decades to get involved in British politics and drug rehabilitation projects. He was convinced that the full-time staff and volunteer workers in Romania could continue the vital work of this charity without him living over there and/or having to make frequent trips over to Romania. Consequently, he started scaling back his supervision of projects in Romania, and delegated the day to day running of this charity to Romanian employees of Europa pentru Europa.

 

Graham’s confidence & trust with staff we have trained in Romania means that the charity continues to thrive and grow. Sustaining this currently involves telephone conference calls from England for 1-2 hours per week.

Graham Giles (Director of ‘Europe to Europe’) relaxing on the beach in Lee-on-the-Solent

near his Hampshire home

Europe to Europe is registered with the UK’s Charity Commission (1019824). It was set up in 1993 to promote the advancement of education & the relief of poverty & sickness throughout Europe.

 

There are three trustees:

 

  Dr. Graham Giles MBE - Chairman

 

  Malcolm Broomfield - Secretary

 

  Peter Scrase - Treasurer

 

‘Europe to Europe’ is a relatively small charity although it has regularly punched far above its weight in terms of what has been achieved on limited financial resources, particularly in Romania. None of the trustees receive any financial remumeration for their involvement with the charity.

 

Dr.Graham Giles is also the unpaid president of the linked ‘Europa pentru Europa Association’, which is a registered charity in Romania. Consequently, the activities and finances of Europe to Europe is legally accountable under two jurisdictions.

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