Operation Christmas Child

Although we are told that Crimea has enough fuel for another winter season, the need to heat homes, orphanages and churches has become very clear on this trip.

After a two-hour journey to Feodosiya on the other side of the peninsula, we joined a local church group who is already prepared to give out dozens of shoeboxes to needy children.

Arriving at two children’s homes, the group performs a number of musical performances, including a dramatic portrayal of the life of Jesus and a traditional Ukrainian Christmas folk song.

As the youngsters awaiting their presents applaud eagerly, it becomes clear that the audience of children and young teenagers may not be as poverty stricken or as needy as you would expect to be helped from a global charity project like Operation Christmas Child.

However, as appears to be the case with much of the Crimea, and the Ukraine, appearances can be deceiving.

Behind the well-dressed children being looked after and educated in the surprisingly clean and tidy orphanages, is a background of serious alcohol abuse, drug addiction and abandonment.

Throughout the country parents can be instantly stripped of their rights and separated from their children if the government feels they are unable to raise them.

In one visit, four-year-old Diana had arrived six weeks ago, with her brother Nikita, six.

The teachers tell us their mother was a serious alcoholic who could not care for them and they will be likely to remain there until they are 16.

Dressing in their best clothes for visitors, the orphans seem to represent the nature of the country, in that beneath the surface lies a troubling amount of social problems and deprivation.

And after a quick stop at a supermarket, I am told that the bottle of Ukrainian beer I have just bought would have cost less than 50p.

I can’t help but think that despite looking forward to sampling the local ale, it will leave behind a very lasting and bitter taste.