A gift of poultry sponsored by Blythswood’s gift catalogue has been a blessing to Zoya and to her children and grandchildren – especially as her son has been in hospital for several months.

Nikolai, aged 23, had a serious accident with the horse-drawn wagon on which he depended to earn a living. The horse died and he was in a coma for 20 days. His spine was damaged and one leg broken in several places, and he was back in the orthopaedic hospital for a third operation at the time when Peter Kolev made a pastoral visit to see how the family were coping.

“They are not a lazy family,” he says. “During the summer, every one – young and old – work in the fields picking roses and lavender. But right now they are surviving on loans and on child allowances from the state.”

The gift of chickens from Blythswood has been an important food source. The Japanese breed obtained for them by Pastor Kolev are good layers, and Zoya has put aside protein for the winter months by preserving some of the meat in jars. And she has successfully hatched more chicks, holding out the promise of food to come.

With 10 people in the three-generation household, including six children between 16 years and four months in age, the self-supporting nature of the project is important. Pastor Kolev says: “Thank you for supporting some of the poorest people in our community.”