Founders

Colonel Mark Cook OBE

A soldier with the Gurkhas for more than 30 years, Mark Cook left the army in 1993. It followed his experience in the Balkans War, where he was Commander of the British UN contingent. During the conflict Mark saw firsthand how the brutalities of war ruined young vulnerable lives. On relaying what he had seen to his wife Caroline, the couple travelled to Sarajevo to see how they could help.

While visiting the bombed out Bjelave Children’s Home, Mark and Caroline witnessed conditions so appalling they decided they could not walk away. Since that day, their mission in life has been simple - to ensure all vulnerable children of war, disaster and poverty grow up in the love of a family and the security of a home.  

Mark said: “More children are being orphaned or abandoned today than ever before. Many of them will have to resort to begging, crime, prostitution or violence just to survive. The world has to realise that this is a crisis on an unprecedented scale, as these children will grow up to be disenfranchised, angry people.” Mark passionately believes action must be taken now to give these children a real chance in life.

As Martin Bell, former BBC War Correspondent, Independent Member of Parliament and Patron of Hope and Homes for Children, puts it: “Mark is evidence that the belief, audacity and practical idealism of an individual can effect monumental changes in the world”.

Caroline Cook OBE

Children have been at the fore of Caroline’s life. After leaving school at 18 she trained to be a nanny at Princess Christian College and subsequently travelled across the world caring for children in private families. Later she ran her own nursery school in London, before marrying Mark in 1967 and starting a family of her own.

For many years Caroline was an army wife – living in various postings around the world, while bringing up their sons Edward and William. When Mark was posted to the UK in the early 1990s, Caroline thought the family would be settled at long last. But in 1992, on the outbreak of civil war in the former Yugoslavia, Mark was posted to the Balkans as the British UN Commander.

After Mark had relayed the horrors he had seen, Caroline went with him to Sarajevo - in the midst of the city’s ongoing siege. She soon became equally as passionate about helping vulnerable children.

This visit sparked an idea that changed Caroline and Mark’s lives and Hope and Homes for Children was born. Since then her conviction that every child deserves to be loved has helped change the lives of thousands of children all over the world.

Mark and Caroline have received widespread recognition for their work:

Both appointed OBE for Humanitarian Services
Featured in the Telegraph's Christmas Appeal
Featured in Harpers & Queen's '21st Century Heroes'
Subject of BBC's 'This is Your Life'
Subject of BBC's 'Hard Talk'
Personality of the Week with ABC News
Subject of the BBC Film 'Against All Odds'
Subject of the BBC's 'Hearts of Gold'