Between 1992 and 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina, once a part of Yugoslavia, was all but destroyed by an ethnic war. The conflict, between Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs, flared up out of fear of the political intentions of Serbia.

By the time the Dayton Peace Agreement brought the war to an end, Bosnia’s economy and its hospitals and schools were in disarray. Poverty and instability were rife, around 300,000 had died, and women had been systematically raped and killed.

Ultimately, Bosnia’s children were the worst victims around 35,000 were orphaned by the conflict. This created tremendous demand for orphanages, with those that already existed oversubscribed by up to 700%.

That demand still exists. It’s a demand recognised by the European Benevolence Fund, a new kind of charity that aims to avoid the traditional trap of being wholly dependent on individual contributions. Instead, we aim to create a £1,000,000 endowment, financed by large, regular individual donations.

This endowment will help build and sustain an orphanage, as well as provide resources for schools and a better education for academically gifted children.

The European Benevolence Fund is a charitable organisation with a difference. Where some charities struggle because they are entirely dependent on individual contributions, we aim to use our experience to create a self-sustainable source of funding that we believe will build and run an orphanage for the children of war-scarred Bosnia.