In 1998 the first project Lotus supported was a ‘Parents House’ at a school in inner-city London. The idea was to transform the old Caretakers’ house into a place where parents could go to learn English, numeracy, IT, health & hygiene and much more. The area where the school is situated, was at that time, inhabited primarily by immigrants and single-parent families.  The ‘Parents House’ contributed materially to the integration of the participating families.

Between 1999 and 2003 Lotus supported projects in Bosnia and Croatia, just after the civil war in the region had ended.  Some of the first projects it supported were a Cow Project, Orphanages and Old Peoples Home for displaced people. These projects were operated on the ground by Hilfe Konkret e.V., a German NGO known to some of Lotus’ Trustees.

Between 2001-2003 Lotus hired a Country Manager, Eileen Macdonald Williams, who was based in Osijek, Croatia and started operating its own projects. The projects ranged from running English & IT courses for disadvantaged youngsters (whose education had been disrupted due to the civil war) to supporting various facilities at a Therapeutic Riding School for disabled youngsters. At the same time, Lotus supported an orphanage in Zagreb and provided medical equipment to a hospital in Serbia which diagnosed prenatal issues.

By the end of 2003 Lotus decided that the need in the Balkans was not as great as when it first started working there and took the decision to move its support to a region/country with greater needs.

In 2004, through the private travels of one of it’s Trustees, Lotus got to know Tabitha-Cambodia, an NGO founded and operated by a Canadian lady based in Cambodia, working with remote very poor communities. For the next 3 years, Lotus supported Tabitha’s Savings Programme in two of the Provinces it operates in, as well as supporting other smaller projects, including house building. Tabitha’s projects were, and still are, highly successful.

Since ‘moving to Cambodia’ Lotus has worked with a number of Cambodian NGOs in a variety of areas. A Centre for Street Children in Phnom Penh, a 3 years Hygiene and Nutrition project in the Angkor Chum District, a 4 years Community Livelihood Improvement project, an Integrated Farming project and a Vocational Training Social Enterprise project in Siem Reap Town. These are just some of the projects Lotus has supported.