A bus for “Lyubov” and “Nadezhda”: transport for 28 children and young people with disabilities in Lovech

About this cause

The playground is in the yard. Everything else is outside it.

Months ago we began renewing the playground in the yard of the “Lyubov” and “Nadezhda” family-type care homes for children and young people with disabilities in Lovech. That yard is one of the few places where the 28 residents can move and play freely.

The other half of the question remained: how do they leave it?

The specialist appointment is in Pleven — 70 kilometres there and back. The more serious consultation is in Sofia — 300 kilometres. Beyond those there is school, day activities, the cinema, a shop, a relative, the seaside once a year. Today every such trip depends on hired transport or someone else’s favour. Which means it happens rarely, as an exception, and usually only when there is no other choice.

A bus with a ramp turns leaving the yard from an exception into an ordinary day.

Who this is for

Twenty-eight people live in the two centres — children with disabilities who cannot grow up in a family, and young people between 18 and 29 who cannot live independently. Each centre has 14 places, including two for emergency placement. The service is run by the “Civic Initiatives – Lovech” Association.

Some of them use a wheelchair. So we are not looking for any bus, but for one with a ramp and with room to secure a wheelchair safely on the road.

What €15,000 buys

• A second-hand 8+1 bus with a wheelchair ramp — €11,400
• Adaptation: ramp or winch, rails and straps to secure a wheelchair — €1,800
• Registration, transfer, insurance, first service and tyres — €750
• Foundation administrative costs, 7% — €1,050

We are buying second-hand rather than new for one reason: the price difference is the difference between a bus in six months and a bus in several years.

Milestones

• By 30 November 2026 — €5,000: bus chosen, deposit paid
• By 31 January 2027 — €10,000: bus bought and transferred
• By 31 March 2027 — €15,000: adapted, registered and on the road

What your donation does

• €10 — fuel for one trip to the hospital in Pleven and back
• €25 — roadworthiness test and one year’s road tax
• €50 — one day of adaptation work at the garage
• €100 — rails and straps to secure one wheelchair
• €250 — a set of tyres

Figures are indicative and will be fixed once we have the dealer’s quote. The exact breakdown goes into the report.

€10 a month does the same thing every month — one trip to Pleven, twelve times a year.

What we promise before you give

Who confirms the help arrived: receipt is confirmed in writing by the management of the “Lyubov” and “Nadezhda” centres and by the “Civic Initiatives – Lovech” Association, which runs the service. The signed handover protocol goes into the report.

Public report: 30 April 2027. It will include the invoice, the registration document, photos of the bus outside the centre and the first journeys. The report is published even if the goal is not reached.

If we raise more than €15,000: the surplus stays with the same bus — fuel, insurance and maintenance for its first year. If that is covered too, we announce publicly where the rest goes.

If we fall short by 31 March 2027:

• above €10,000 we buy a cheaper bus and say publicly what compromise we made;
• below that we extend the deadline once, to 30 June 2027;
• if it still falls short, every donor receives an email with a choice: keep the money with the bus, redirect it to another need of the same centre, or have it refunded.

We write this now rather than later, because a campaign without a report is not a donation — it is a promise.

Bank transfer

Beneficiary: Surya Foundation · IBAN: BG78UNCR70001525676649 · BIC: UNCRBGSF

In the payment reference write “Bus Lovech”. Bank donations are not reflected automatically in the site total.