The Red Wall supports young Armenians with autism thanks to Gôl Cymru

When Wales travelled to Yerevan for their crunch Euro qualifier against Armenia recently, the Wales supporters charity Gôl Cymru again swung back onto action.

This time they visited the Arvestaran charity in the capital city with gifts of sports, play and educational equipment for children with autism.

Arvestaran is a small charity founded by a volunteer, Hasmik Tangyan. Hasmik is a dedicated individual who set up the charity in 2018 without any funding and she has maintained the service by baking and selling cakes and the like in the local community.

The mission of Arvestaran is to create a safe and enabling environment for disadvantaged children in the community, by building an inclusive and aware society, in particular for children with autism and other developmental disorders of all ages to develop their social and self-advocacy skills.

The Centre provides creative therapy services, such as art, music, dance and crafts as well as providing educational services and vocational training.

Hasmik Tangyan from Arvestaran, said: “Unfortunately, the current support of the state and of society towards people with autism is insufficient. With employment difficulties, low financial compensations, and little understanding and acceptance by society, this vulnerable group finds itself in a rather challenging position.

“Arvestaran forms a bridge to overcome these difficulties. But the structural problems are hard to combat alone, raising the need for benevolent allies. Here is where any help would have a major impact on the continuity of the local community, and eventually the beginning of a more aware society.

“Thank you for supporting and being a part of our community!”

The Red Wall supporters also raffled three signed Wales shirts on the flights from Manchester and Cardiff to Yerevan to raise money for Arvestaran.

Chester Hartley from Gôl Cymru! Said: “Knowing that what the Wales fans saw when we first came here in 2001 was partly why Gôl Cymru! was started, it’s great to be able to give something back to this welcoming country. We hope our contribution will help, even if just in a small way, to make sure this project continues. Thanks again to Cymru fans for making this possible.”

Gôl Cymru!supports children’s charities wherever the national team plays. It was established in Azerbaijan in 2002 by fans who wanted to ‘make a difference’. To date, it has supported children’s organisations in over 50 countries.

You can find more information and photos of Gôl Cymru’s past activities and visits at www.gol.wales or www.gol.cymru (Welsh)

You can also donate at: www.Justgiving.com/gol

Read more: Letter from Armenia