About War Child

Our vision

We look forward to a world in which the lives of children are no longer torn apart by war

Our Mission

War Child’s mission is to support and strengthen the protective environment for children who, as a result of conflict, live with a combination of insecurity, poverty and exclusion.

History

War Child was founded in 1993 by British filmmakers Bill Leeson and David Wilson, when they returned from filming the war in former Yugoslavia. Shocked by what they had seen, they raised enough money to return later that year with a convoy and mobile bakery to help provide for the children affected by the conflict.

The War Child family soon grew as War Child Holland was formed in 1994 and War Child Canada started in 1998 - all under the umbrella of War Child International.

Our first album 'Help' was launched in 1995 in order to raise money and awareness for the children affected by the bloody conflicts in the Balkans.

After more than 10 years we handed over our music therapy programme and the flagship Pavarotti Music Centre to a local organisation that will continue to serve children in to the future.

During that time we have expanded our programmes into the four countries we work in today - Iraq, Afghanistan, D.R. Congo and Uganda. We have also released four more critically acclaimed albums; most notably 'Help! - A Day in the Life' in 2005 and 'Heroes' in 2009.

Staff

Although we've worked with some of the biggest names in music history, we're actually quite a small organisation.

We employ 15 full time staff in our Head Office in London, and rely on the invaluable support of a small team of unpaid interns.

Current Head Office staff members:

The photogenic staff of War Child. (i.e. everyone except Mark and Sara!)

In the Field

War Child UK runs projects on the ground in four countries:

• Afghanistan
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Iraq
• Uganda

War Child helps protect children by:

• Reintegrating child soldiers with their families
• Getting children off the streets, after war has forced them to leave home
• Separating children from adults in prison
• Rebuilding schools destroyed by war

Finances

Last year our turnover was approximately £1.6m

Q: It looks like you ran quite a big deficit last year. Is War Child in financial difficulty?

A: No we aren't. Like a lot of charities, our income and expenditure does tend to fluctuate year on year and some grants may arrive in one financial year and then are spent in the next one. We also invested money last year in diversifying our income streams (see question below).

Q: Who do you get grants from?

A: We receive a couple of large grants from Comic Relief and DFID. We also receive funding from a number of smaller trusts and funds.

Q: That looks like a large proportion of money to spend on generating income?

A: It was higher than normal last year. We knew we would be affected by the economic downturn just like everyone else. Therefore last year we invested money in strengthening and diversifying our income sources so that we weren't over-reliant on any one funder or income stream.

This investment has paid off as we have managed not to have to make any financial-related cuts to our vital programmes work in the field. We also incurred costs in 2008 for the recording of our album 'Heroes', and this did not go on sale and generate an income until early 2009.