The campaign of the Bulgarian Fund for Women “The Invisible First Line”, which raised funds in favour of crisis and counselling centres across the country ended successfully. The initiative was launched on 25 November – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and continued within the framework of the UN global initiative “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence”. The charity campaign managed to raise over 75 000 BGN from individual and corporate donors.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who participated and donated!
Among them are the companies Avon Cosmetics Bulgaria, Veolia – Sofiyska Voda, the software company Melon and the British Embassy in Sofia. The campaign was also supported by Raiffeisen Bank, as a special cause of the Bulgarian Fund for Women “Solidarity in Action” was created in the bank’s annual initiative “Choose to Help”, which also raised funds for the crisis centers.
Several small businesses, artists and celebrities also got behind the BFW campaign and organised their own charity initiatives and donated the funds raised to BFW to be distributed in support of the crisis and counselling centers. Among the celebrities and people dedicated to the cause it is worth mentioning: the businesswoman Veronika Puncheva, the writer Ioanna Elmi, the influencer Kalina Georgieva and her friends, the radio presenter Geri Turiyska together with the Charity Bazaar “House of Causes”, the jewellery studio Nimeria Shop and the bakery “Sladka i solenka” from Plovdiv. The cause was also supported and promoted by the host of “Before Noon” on bTV Desislava Stoyanova, athlete Karin Okolie and GI Creative and PR Agency, to whom we also thank!
Hundreds of individual donors from Bulgaria and abroad also offered their support and donated to the campaign “Invisible First Line” on Platform.bg, through the DMS platform, on the specially created website silna.info, where donations are made via PayPal, ePay or the donation account of BFW.
The amount collected currently is 76 144 BGN and will be supplemented by the upcoming donations from some of the celebrities and entrepreneurs who will finish their campaigns at the end of 2021 and will transfer the donations they have raised at the beginning of 2022. If you too would like to get involved with a donation, you can still do so on our Campaign Platform, which is active until 31 December 2021. We will inform you of the total amount raised in the Invisible First Line campaign in early 2022.
In order to meet the needs of the 13 organizations that run crisis and counselling centers across the country and to organize the campaign effectively, the Bulgarian Fund for Women has carried out a survey to find out what are the most urgent deficits and needs of organizations working with victims of domestic violence across the country. The Bulgarian Fund for Women added to the amount collected from the donors in order to be able to cover the urgent needs stated by the 13 organizations, which amounted to a total of 128 657 BGN. The funds have already been distributed by the Bulgarian Fund for Women to the 13 organizations across the country. Here’s who they are:
- SOS – Families at Risk Foundation – Varna
- P.U.L.S. Foundation – Pernik
- BCDI Foundation – Haskovo Branch
- Association “Association NAYA” – Targovishte
- Open Door Centre Foundation – Lovech and Sofia
- Nadia Centre Foundation – Ruse Branch
- Mission Wings Foundation – Stara Zagora
- Women’s Association “Ekaterina Karavelova” – Silistra
- Animus Association Foundation – Sofia
- Association “Knowledge, Success, Change” – Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad
- “YES” Foundation – Plovdiv
- H and D Gender Perspectives Foundation – Dimitrovgrad and Svilengrad
- Center Dynamics Association – Ruse
All these organizations work on the first line and run crisis and counselling centers for adult and child victims of domestic violence and provide daily psychological, legal and social support, emergency protection, temporary shelter for women and children, therapy sessions and medical assistance, legal representation, support in reintegration of victims after leaving the service, as well as other crucial and sometimes life-saving support measures. These types of centers are very few in the country and are systematically underfunded by the state and municipalities. Therefore, they constantly rely on donor support to continue to provide protection to victims of domestic violence.
The funds distributed to the centers will be used for: tests, supplies and hygiene materials to manage the spread of COVID-19; payment of state legal fees to legally represent victims; additional hours of work for psychologists and lawyers due to the increased number of cases; school supplies for children; emergency humanitarian aid for women coming out of temporary shelters, etc.
The “Invisible First Line” campaign of the Bulgarian Fund for Women shared the stories of psychologists, lawyers and social workers from the organizations who work every day on the first line, changing lives
and saving lives. As part of the initiative, we published the documentary book “The Invisible First Line”, in which through photographs and interviews we presented the true stories of the specialists from the crisis and counselling centers, intertwined with the fates of the women and children affected by violence they help every day. The idea of the book is to bring hope and show the heroes who often remain hidden, out of the news on TV, but who change people’s lives.
The book was sent as a gift to donors who contributed 50 leva or more to the campaign. The printed edition was delivered courtesy of Glovo-Bulgaria.
We at the Bulgarian Fund for Women also thank all the individual and corporate donors who supported the Invisible First Line campaign!
Thank you to all our partners and supporters who helped make this initiative a success!
We wish you a bright and happy Christmas season and much health and success in the New Year 2022!
