By Neil Forbes

Childrens Hospice “Firefly World”
https://childrenshospice.org.ge/eng/home

Our 98th consecutive donation was made to Firefly World, based on the
outskirts of Tbilisi. Their mission is to provide holistic, palliative care services to children, young people and their families in the region.  They deliver these services in partnership with others wherever possible, while promoting the cause of palliative care for children and young people.

On January 17, 2017, the first children’s hospice in Georgia “Firefly World” was launched in Tbilisi. The name of the hospice, came from the Georgian tale: “The Adventures of The Piper Boy Salamura”.

The Hospice works in three basic directions:

• 24-hour service for simultaneously 10 children and their parents;
• daytime centre, where children and their parents stay from morning till evening to receive necessary services;
• home care service, which has already existed for three years and which provides services to 50 children, which will continue to operate.

At the moment when kids and their parents realize that there is no way to cure their illness, palliative care plays a huge role in mitigating psychological, physical and emotional situations. The hospice team tries its best to make kids happy, alleviate pain and help their dreams come true.

Firefly is managed by Irakli Vetsko, who was delighted the hospice’s work was
being recognised by The Tartan Army Sunshine Appeal, so much so, he laid on
transport to take 15 of us to the Hospice a good 30 minute drive from the Old
town of Tbilisi.

On arrival we were met by several staff members and a few of the children,
who were entertained by our usual piper Mark Love. One of the kids had their
birthday on the day of our visit and she was elated when Mark played happy
birthday to her on the bagpipes.

The Scottish fans who attended were given a guided tour of the facility, which
does some amazing work with seriously ill children.

A huge thank you goes out to all the fans who took the time out of their day to
join us on our visit to another very worthwhile charity, and to the staff of the
British Embassy who also came along to recognise and support the work of the
Tartan Army Sunshine Appeal.

#EverywhereWeGo