For Ivan Stancioff, the president of the Karin Dom foundation, obstacles are challenges to overcome, not insuperable hurdles. And as if to prove his point the almost supernaturally vigorous 80-year-old, a former Bulgarian ambassador to the UK, has just climbed Mount Olympus in Greece.

When we meet in his flat in Sofia’s Iztok area he is bloodied and bruised but unbowed. His wife, he hastens to add, thinks he’s "nuts". When you consider the feat involved, some may say she has a point. Climbing Moussala, the highest peak in the Balkans, at the age of 70, seemed audacious enough. But climbing Olympus at 80?   

Perseverance, however, is Stancioff’s middle name. After an earlier attempt at climbing the mountain this year – during which he broke several bones, requiring a six-week recuperation period – Stancioff made a second, successful attempt just before our meeting.   

"The people you meet climbing mountains are really wonderful, irrespective of their socio-economic political background. They are so empathetic and willing to help," says Stancioff.

Of mixed background – including French and Dutch ancestry – Stancioff has an aristocratic bearing, hailing from a long and distinguished lineage. His father was a diplomat who had seven children with American painter Marion Mitchell. In 1946, after the establishment of the pro-Soviet government, Stancioff’s father defected to the US with his family and became a farmer, but continued lecturing and writing articles on Bulgaria.

Two years after the democratic changes in Bulgaria, in 1991, Ivan, then 62, returned to Bulgaria after an absence of almost half a century. As well as his ambassadors’ postings, he also served as a foreign minister.

A well-travelled man (his wife is Scottish and they have a home in Scotland) Stancioff still nurtures a deep love for Bulgaria. Despite endless negative publicity about corruption and, in particular, poor state provision for disadvantaged children, perhaps this spirit of co-operation Stancioff alludes to is the key to one of Bulgaria’s many charms. "In spite of all the nastiness – the garbage and impassable streets – there are a lot of great things in this country," he says.  Not the least of them is this spirit of duty – dare one say "noblesse oblige" – which radiates from Stancioff himself.  

Selflessness
Stancioff aims to evoke the same spirit of generosity with his work for the Karin Dom Foundation*, the daycare centre he helped to set up in Varna on the Black Sea coast, officially opened by Bulgaria’s then-president Zhelyu Zhelev in 1996. Stancioff’s philanthropy, as is usually the case, was spurred on by personal experience.

"My first cousin, Karin, who was half-Bulgarian and half-Dutch, was born in London with cerebral palsy. Although she was wheelchair-bound, she was a marvellous character, very religious and generous. Instead of worrying about herself, she was always concerned about other people. When Karin died we decided that if the Bulgarian government returned our grandfather’s house in Varna we’d do something in her name.

As it turned out it was me who returned. With the help of a paediatrician in Varna, whom I’d hired as a consultant, the day centre allowed the child to stay with their parents but help the parents to support the child."

Karin Dom now provides training and care for children and their families. It’s a non-profit centre that receives no money from the government, so it’s dependent on private contributions and EU-funded projects. About 35-40 children come to the centre, ranging from toddlers to young adults. Their conditions are diverse: some have Down’s Syndrome, others have cerebral palsy or have been diagnosed as "hyperactive" children but their treatment is tailored to their individual needs.

Although the plight of children with special needs in Bulgaria may be grim – and needless to say the notorious programme, Bulgaria’s Forgotten Children (about children in a run-down state home in Mogilino), contributed to the feeling that Bulgaria’s institutionalised state care was substandard – Stancioff believes that ignorance, even negligence about conditions such as autism, is universal. "Parents of autistic children in the UK are also furious about the lack of education and knowledge," he says.

Nevertheless, Bulgaria’s reputation reached a low point following the screening of the programme. If something good came out of it, however, it was that the film, shown in many countries throughout the world, inspired viewers to donate 200 000 pounds sterling to a foundation later established by Kate Blewett, the filmmaker behind the programme. Part of that money went to hire seven new full-time therapists at Karin Dom to form a mobile training unit for homes around Bulgaria.