Jupiter and its Emerging European Opportunities manager Elena Shaftan have made a £100,000 joint charitable donation to two little-known Russian disabled children’s charities.

Shaftan (pictured), who heads up the group’s Emerging European team, said: ‘I wanted to find an appropriate way for us to offer support for this cause in a part of the world which has generated good returns for both Jupiter and its investors,’ she said.

One charity, Partners In Hope, works with Russian children with learning disabilities providing them with education equivalent to GCSE standard to help them to gain employment in the wider community. It also supports a centre working with autistic children. The other, Downside Up, works with children with Downs Syndrome and their families providing support to 400 children in the Moscow area.

‘I grew up in the Soviet Union where children with abnormalities were often given up at birth and locked away from the public eye. They didn’t fit the image of perfection Communist rule strove to achieve,’ she said. ‘After the collapse of Communism the situation did not improve much.’

Shaftan said she had chosen the two charities for their effectiveness, relatively small size and low profiles.

Via: Citywire