Father Christmas from Beats for Love brought presents to a children’s home

The regular charitable events of the Beats for Love dance festival culminated in the run-up to Christmas. As has become the tradition, its organisers fulfilled the wishes of children without a home. This year they chose the Ostrava-Hrabová children’s home, where they gave Christmas presents to thirty children aged five to twenty. The idea behind the festival’s Christmas charity was the same as last year — to fulfil the children’s real wishes.

The festival organisers therefore approached the children’s home well in advance to find out what the children really wanted. „This year we also fulfilled practical wishes. Some of the young people will be leaving the home in the new year and building homes of their own, so they wanted, for example, a microwave oven, sets of pots and knives, or suitcases. We are glad we could help them at least a little at such a crucial time in their lives, when they are standing on their own two feet,” comments Kamil Rudolf, director of the Beats for Love festival. But the list also included things like sports bags, hoodies, costume jewellery, books, toys and cosmetics.

„We greatly appreciate the help from the festival organisers, who not only helped with material gifts but also by spending time with the children and talking to them. Such contact with the real world is very important for the children and always inspires them positively at any age. That is why we too try to make sure our children spend their time in varied ways and return to the home as to a home — they attend schools outside the home, go to all sorts of clubs and enjoy their free time with friends,” says Liběna Vydrová from the Ostrava-Hrabová children’s home.

Last Christmas the Beats for Love festival helped at the Vizina children’s home, and the year before its members brought joy to patients of the children’s ward of Ostrava City Hospital. Charitable events also take place throughout the year — this spring, for example, there was a unique DJ workshop for the deaf. The festival itself is traditionally accompanied by public collections; this year a record amount was raised to help the Strom života mobile hospice, which cares for both child and adult patients in the advanced and terminal stages of incurable illnesses. Visitors contributed 149 thousand in the public collection held at the festival, and the Beats for Love organisers then doubled the amount to 300 thousand.