Published on 26 November 2021
Georgiana Glavan, 27, is in the third year of her Business Management degree, at the University’s London campus. Georgiana’s parents were divorced when she was young and she lost contact with her father. She later became estranged from her mother.
“I decided to travel from Romania to come to live in the UK to work and study, but my mother has never agreed,” says Georgiana, “She told me that if I left I would never speak to her again.
“Until then I really had a great connection with my mother and I needed her support since she was my only parent. My parents got divorced when I was three years old and I did not keep in touch with my father.”
Georgiana made the difficult decision to move to England from Bucharest, originally only planning to stay for a year, but she never left. Now, five years later she lives in Hemel Hempstead with her son Eric (5) and Eva (2).
Georgiana says that the presents Eric and Eva received from the We Care at Christmas appeal made their Christmas last year.
“Before Christmas I received a box with great presents inside. There was a bracelet for me with a Christmas card, a pack of colourful minicars for Eric and a musical xylophone for Eva.
“It was a huge relief for me as I no longer felt the pressure of buying presents for them. “The We Care team have always been there for me when I felt alone, and have helped me with financial support, events and treats and now Christmas gifts for my children. I cannot express how grateful I am to them. As much as I can I would like to help them to continue their exceptional work.”
This Christmas will be a very special one for Georgiana, Eric and Eva as they are returning to Romania for the first time.
“After a long time we will be spending Christmas in Romania. The children are going to be thrilled to play outside in the snow and to see a proper winter there.”
The We Care at Christmas appeal is raising funds to support care experienced and estranged students at the University’s Sunderland and London campuses.
For many of these students Christmas will be a time they will spend alone, perhaps without a card, gift, festive meal or companionship. For those students with children, it is a particularly difficult time trying to provide for their children, while making Christmas special.
University of Sunderland Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Bell, has backed the campaign and is asking staff to donate. He says: “Our care-experienced and estranged students are a valued and important part of our University community and now is our opportunity to remind them, in a very practical way, of how much they mean to us.”
If you would like to find out more about the appeal go to the We Care at Christmas Go Fund Me page.