Ms. Maureen Forrest

The Hope Foundation

The Hope Foundation is a registered charity founded in 1999 by Maureen Forrest, who began by sheltering 20 girls living on the streets of Kolkata. It has since grown into a major development organisation for street- and slum-connected children and communities across West Bengal, advocating for their rights and delivering child protection, education and sponsorship, healthcare, and livelihood/vocational-training programmes. The Foundation currently runs dozens of projects spanning education, healthcare, protection, life skills and emergency response, supported by sister fundraising foundations in Ireland, the UK and the US.

The Hope Foundation reports the following, on its own site:

• 46733 people received healthcare support
• 9078 children received educational support
• 1579 children protected from abuse & neglect
• 880 young people received vocational training