Hi, I'm Lauren, the 2008 winner of the Hertfordshire YOPEY.

I've set up for the orphans with special needs I've worked with in Romania. I think it will be a really worthwhile project, but we need lots of money to complete it! So if anybody's interested in helping fundraise for it, please let me know (plz email me on lzw07@ic.ac.uk). There will be volunteering opportunities for working with the orphans in Romania once this project is up and running.

Before starting university, I went with a group to Romania 3 times to volunteer with orphans with special needs. The treatment of those orphans in the orphanages was so horrendous, and I can't even begin to discribe to you the suffering of those children that I witnessed out there. So myself and a girl Alex Daly (who's been out to Romania with me) have since been talking about creating a project to free those orphans that we've grown to love. We've recently begun to put that plan into action, and have created a Romanian charity called 'Close to You Association'. We have already raised money for an purchased a perfect area of land for the project, which is huge! We will be building a 3-story building. On the top floor there will accomodation for volunteers when the come to help out at the project. On the first floor we will be accomodating the 12 orphans that we'll be taking out of the orphanage and fostering, to finally give them a safe and loving home. On the ground floor we'll have a daycare centre for other orphans with special needs that we'll bring form the local orphanage on a daily basis, and here they'll receive rehabilitation and love. We're now trying to raise the money needed for the building work, which will begin in a month and, money permitting, will be finished next summer.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing from anybody who'd like to help!

Lauren xx