Former Worth Farm Manager on the refugee frontline

Catalin Constantin managed Worth Farm for 8 years and, in 2017, returned with his family to their home country of Romania to be closer to family to help with their son born with special needs whilst at Worth. Catalin has subsequently started a small business of a summer hotel resort with 5 self-catering villas in the beautiful Danube Delta, Casa Varvara.

Catalin has now found himself at the epicentre of one of the Ukrainian refugee crossings into Romania, being only 10kms from the ferry border point of Isaccea. What started as a trickle of refugees has now escalated, with thousands of people arriving every day. This number of refugees is only going to increase and probably dramatically as the strategic Ukrainian port of Odessa (only 300kms away by direct road) is under increasingly heavy attack. The weather is currently very bad with freezing temperatures, and refugees are arriving with nothing but the clothes on their back, a very small amount of money, and some without passports or other travel documents. Many are young families without the father who may have stayed behind to fight. They all have different needs but are all disorientated, exhausted, hungry, cold, and frightened about the future.

Catalin and his family are welcoming these poor people and trying to make them feel genuinely at home. They are not imposing any time limit on how long they stay, although most want to keep travelling further west as fast as possible, and are doing they can to assist them. However this is starting to cost them substantial amounts of money in food, bedding and electricity. With your support they will find more ways to help more refugees, and offer them a glimmer of hope.

You can find Catalin's JustGiving Page here.