What is HOPE?

The Hope Foundation is a registered charity working with street and slum children in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India.

We work to free children and poor families from lives of pain, abuse, poverty and darkness.

Living on the streets, children are exposed to horrendous physical and sexual abuse. Those who survive are left to fend for themselves, with no promise of a safe future. They are forced to work from as young as five years of age to earn money for food and so cannot go to school. HOPE works to free them from child labour. HOPE funds and operates over 60 projects.

We reach out to those most forgotten, offering…

Our Mission

To improve the quality of life for the most marginalised street and slum connected children and communities, primarily in India. Ensuring their basic rights and enhancing their dignity of life, through protection, health, education and economic development in a sustainable life cycle approach. Achieving this mission through fundraising activities and initiatives.

Our Aim

To support the development of underprivileged sections of society through partnership, support and capacity building.

We believe in sustainable development. Our programmes aim to give street and slum children in Kolkata the support needed to create better futures.

Our Vision

“A world where it should never hurt to be a child.” Restoring childhoods to children and sustainability to individuals and communities.

A Message from our Founder

“The poorest people in our global community live a life of bare subsistence, one of uncertainty, insecurity, more suffering and quite often, premature death. There are no safety nets, such as social welfare, for the families we work with. Their survival is determined by your generosity and kindness in reaching out and responding in whatever way you can. I ask you to remember the street and slum children and to support our work.”

Maureen Forrest – Founding President, The Hope Foundation

Our Team
Maureen Forrest

Founding President

Margaret Doyle

Office Administrator

Serdar Suer

Financial Manager

Accounts Manager

Pauline Coffey

Reception (Part time)

Fiona Heraghty

CEO of Head Office Operations

Eithne Walsh

International Programmes Manager

Maura Lennon

CEO of International Operations

Child Sponsorship Programme Manager

Nessan Kavanagh

Digital Marketing & Communications Manager

Charlie McBurney

Schools Programme Manager

Sinead Hurley

Accounts Assistant

Alpana Delaney

Fundraising & Schools Officer

Aoife Bulman

Fundraising & Events Officer

Sharon-Louise Noonan

Communications Officer

Maureen Kenny

Schools Administrator

Sheila Zebedee

Fundraising and Schools Officer - Leinster