Network Gloria is a UK Registered Charity No. 1085365, working for the advancement of education and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in Romania. 

History

Delamere and Oakmere news 1993 click here .

 It all began back in 1995, when Gloria Ackerley met up with her husband on one of his voluntary trips to Romania. She spent a week there sharing her skills as a special needs teacher with parents of children with special medical and educational requirements at the Binecuvintati Copiii centre in Onesti. She found from talking to the parents there was a real need for contact, support and information on how they could obtain help. From that first visit the requests for help have just grown.  Since we registered as a UK Charity on 2nd March 2001, Trustees have regularly visted our families.

Gloria has now been thirteen times to Romania, but is no longer on her own. She is accompanied by a team of volunteers, skilled in special educational needs and in counselling and advising families and others working with the children and young adults.

Gloira visits the Special School (orphanage) at Darmanesti in 1995.  The little boy on her lap had AIDS.

How the network got its name
During a trip in 1997, Gloria was visiting the Tulcea area where she spotted a street sign "STR. GLORIEI". This means "Road of Glory" in Romanian and her companions suggested that this would make a good name for the network.

Our Motto
Later, Gloria spotted a tree that had shed some acorns and it seemed very appropriate that the motto of the network would become "Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow".

Our Mission

Network Gloria tries to provide links for families, groups and specialists who make contact. We listen and try to provide positive support and information. While financial aid is always needed and we work hard to help in this area, the strength offered by personal contact and involvement is vitally important.

We also provide educational advice for adults in the form of seminars and courses. All requests for help are carefully checked by a personal visit to the people's own homes by a representative of Network Gloria.
Contacts are made through amateur radio, computer links and through normal mail services. We try to put families in contact with other families who have similar challenges.

We try to obtain advice from the most up to date sources. An important aspect of our work is helping those in need to help themselves and each other by encouraging networking between families with needs within Romania itself.