History - how the charity started

Two of the founder members of the charity - John and Jean Gutteridge - had been making short visits to Romania each year since 1993, helping out at a hospice for children with AIDS. Towards the end of 2000 they became aware that such children and others suffering from the illness who live at home with their families - often in very poor circumstances - really benefit greatly from short holiday breaks. This can be difficult to arrange, however, as there are few places that cater for the requirements of these children - many of whom also have other special needs.

By May 2001 they felt that God wanted them to form a charity that would set up and run such a holiday home. The name chosen for the charity "THE SUNFLOWER FELLOWSHIP ROMANIA" was influenced by the vast fields of sunflowers grown in the countryside each summer, and the desire to work in fellowship with Christians from both Romania and the UK. Trustees were appointed and the first meeting held on 21st June 2001.

The next step was an exploratory trip to east Romania in July, seeking a house that could be converted into a Holiday Home. It soon became clear however, that it would be preferable to build a specially designed house - an expensive alternative, as land is quite costly.

A meeting with a Baptist Pastor - Adrian Popa - resulted in an amazing and unexpected solution. An old house had been purchased as a place of worship in the village of Cataloi, attached to which was a very large plot of land. The pastor offered this land to our charity free of charge if we would build the home there!

From that moment on there have been so many other confirmations that this was God's will - e.g. a church member at Cataloi was a Councillor for the district and obtained all necessary permissions and personally supervised the building work. The charity was dedicated to the Lord at a Service in September 2001 and entered on the register of the Charity Commission in January 2002.