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About Us

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

In 1994 hospital consultant surgeon Steve Courtney and his wife Ruth, a primary school teacher, visited Corfu. They thought just for a holiday. However, on a day trip from Corfu, in a rusty little boat, they visited Sarande in the south of Albania.

They were shown the beautiful natural springs at Blue Eye, the ancient archaeological site at Butrint and saw  the stunning  beauty of the rugged dramatic landscape.

In sharp contrast were the hundreds of bunkers scarring the hillsides at every turn. Each family had been required to build its own bunker in readiness to defend the country against invasion. Whenever the bus parked, a boy ran to jam bricks behind the wheels to aid its failing brakes. The hospital had few light bulbs, broken windows and shards of glass on floors.

Within the gloom, Steve and Ruth went on to meet people whose kindness and generosity shone through-despite their circumstances. People who would share their food with them-leaving themselves with none. People who would give them their bed and sleep on the floor outside on the balcony. Steve and Ruth returned year after year building close friendships with many who they met-and determined to help, in any way that they could, this country and its people. Initially this was simply through visiting once or twice a year, maybe taking clothing and footwear, offering help within the hospital.

This developed into taking teams (in a voluntary capacity) who would work alongside them doing whatever was needed with the skills they could offer. Most of the work was with the poor and vulnerable.

Hope to Albania was established in 2010. In 2017 the charity was renamed Hope in Action and continues to work alongside locals and a number of charities based in Albania.

THE TEAM

We have an incredibly loyal and supportive core group which is small but at times we grow as volunteers swell our ranks. The largest group to travel to Albania was 14 and the smallest is 2.

To date a total of 60+ have joined our teams throughout the years and many have returned. All have different skills, gifts and strengths to offer. We have had musicians, therapists, teachers, anaesthetists, business people and many more. All are volunteers – so we have no salaries and no expenses, thus our overheads are minimal. We are so grateful for the generosity of our volunteers which enables virtually all we raise to go directly to those we serve.

We have a multi talented team that have visited on numerous occasions:

  • Steve and Ruth Courtney – Founders
  • Sion and Anna Williams
    • Sion spent a year in Sarande living alongside locals and learning Albanian.
    • Anna has visited on multi occasions and worked tirelessly as fund raiser and event planner.
  • Jackie Webb – multi-talented team member and has visited numerous occasions.
  • Katy Page – visited on many occasions, plus also trained in early years education and occupational therapy.
  • Ian and Jane Clark – visited multiple times, trustee and chief supporter and encourager!

And there are many others who have worked alongside us closely through the years, thank you!

OUR CORE VALUES

These are our highest priorities and guide and determine our all actions:

At the heart of all that we do is a desire to serve everyone we meet with love and compassion, seeing the inherent value of every human being and enabling them to fulfil their unique potential.

We seek to be transparent and open in all that we undertake.

We want to be trusted and build trust which can only happen through demonstration of trust as we seek to improve the lives of individuals, families and communities we come into contact with.

We are committed to serving the poor.

We work in some of the poorest communities where the children may not have access to health care, or receive schooling. This may be due to prejudice, lack of clothing, shoes, books or even a bag. Medicines, treatment and costs of travel to hospital are prohibitively costly. Maybe the child is required to help support the family income through climbing into rubbish bins or begging. Lack of education and basic skills means they are unable to source what little they may be entitled to or even the fact that they were not registered at birth and are thus not entitled to anything as they ‘don’t exist’. We seek to help in whatever means possible to help bring justice to their situation.

We appreciate and value the uniqueness of every human being regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, creed or sexual orientation.

We appreciate living in a multi faith society and honour those of different faiths within our team and with those with whom we partner. We appreciate the contribution they bring and what we can learn from them. We believe in freedom of choice for every individual with respect to their own personal faith.

Extreme Poverty

Report from the World Summit for Social Development UN 1995

Extreme poverty is defined as: “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services”.

We work alongside families to help break the cycle of poverty, discrimination and abuse into which they have become locked, or through difficult circumstances are now in.

TRUSTEES

As a UK registered charity, No. 1140848, Hope in Action is overseen by a board of trustees whose responsibilities include ensuring the work of Hope in Action remains within the legislative framework for charities.

Hope in Action Trustees

If you would like to be in contact with any of our trustees please feel free to email them.