Basis project assists 33 low-income families in the vicinity of Cluj, Romania, providing a monthly package of basic foodstuffs such as rice, oil and sugar as well as friendship and advice

Supporting grandparents to keep their boy at home

Levente was still a baby when his mother walked out. Then his father moved to another place with a new girlfriend and he was left with his grandparents. Child protection services would have placed the child in an orphanage but Sari and Janos resolved to bring up their grandson at home.

And that’s not easy on a household income which equates to just £350 per month. Sari is 66, suffers from asthma and is not fit to work. Janos, too, is past retirement age but still takes work on building sites when he can get it.

Agnes Csiszer who runs Blythswood’s Basis project is determined to give the elderly couple all the support they need to keep their grandson in a family setting. “The monthly food package from Blythswood is a big help to them,” she says. “Most of their income goes on household and medical expenses and on the equipment and clothes which Levente needs for school. Unless something changes, they will continue to need Blythswood’s support.”