Hi, most of my friends will know I have been supporting Libearty Bear Sanctuary in Romania for some years now.

The Founder Cristina Lapis is without doubt the kindest and most inspirational lady whom I am honoured to call my friend. She and her husband have worked tirelessly for years setting up the largest bear sanctuary in the world as well as two dog shelters. She has dedicated her whole life caring for abused animals, often sacrificing her own health.

Since 1997 Cristina has rescued 126 captive bears from terrible conditions as well as over 25,000 stray dogs.

After the fall of the communist regime in Romania and when society saw a ray of light towards democracy, Cristina saw a chance to reach out and help tormented animals that no one had protected. In 1999 she opened the first private dog shelter “Victory Dog Shelter” where she began treating and caring for stray dogs. As well as this she began running spay and neutering campaigns to help reduce the number of stray dogs on the street which in turn prevented unnecessary suffering.

Cristina travels to schools in her spare time teaching the children the importance of animals in our lives and how we should respect, protect and value them.

She is globally recognised and admired for her unconditional fight for animal welfare, having been awarded the “Conservationist of the Year“ at the Animal Hero Awards by the Daily Mirror. But it’s Cristina's genuine love and big heart that make her an inspiring example of bravery, pure dedication and passionate resilience in fighting to protect the beautiful animal world.

Her new project has been building a wonderful new dog shelter for all the homeless dogs that she saves. The new facilities are incredible and what her focus has been is to give them as much of a "home environment" as she possibly can. They will have areas where they can play and socialise with the other dogs and lovely warm cosy beds during the cold winter months.

She is desperately needing more funds now to incorporate a clinic with all the necessary veterinary equipment for the dogs. Please can you join me in helping her achieve this? Any donation big or small will help, it will all make a difference to the lives of so many.