The Ashcombe School has links with the charity 'Fundatia Link Romania Moldova', normally referred to as 'Link Romania'. It is based at the northern city of Iasi in Romania and at Worthing in England.
The charity works among various groups of under-privileged people in Romania, including orphans, gypsies and street children and provide kindergartens, life-skills training and financial and other kinds of assistance.
The Ashcombe School usually sends out a group of lower sixth form students and teachers during Activities Week in July and collects shoe boxes of gifts to send at Christmas. Money is raised during Charities Week and sometimes by way of special events, such as a sponsored swim.
The 2007 visit to Iasi
During Activities Week, fifteen Ashcombe Lower Sixth students, accompanied by two teachers, travelled to the city of Iasi in north-east Romania.
We stayed in the almost completed Life Skills Centre, on the building of which much of the money raised in Charities Weeks in the last few years has been spent. Previous students have been involved in decorating this Centre.
During the week, we made a daily 1½ hour trip to the gypsy village of Slobozia, where we built a playground for the local children, which included a slide, rope bridges and a see-saw. At one point, we were picked up from a tough day’s work by a minibus that had deckchairs and toolboxes for seats, which we all found to be a very surreal and interesting experience! It was tiring work digging, mixing concrete, splicing ropes and sawing and the 50ºC heat made it even harder, but our efforts were gladly appreciated by the children, and a party was held to celebrate the completion of the playground.
The trip also included sightseeing around the cities of Iasi and the capital, Bucharest, as well as a visit to the shanty town of Dallas, where many of the shoeboxes kindly prepared by Ashcombe students had been delivered.
Despite the plane home being delayed by 5 hours due to a technical fault, all those who took part agree that it truly was an experience of a lifetime, and one about which we will always have many fond memories.