Charity Number: 1143501
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We are an Ethiopian 'Diaspora' Organisation set up in 2009 that was granted Charitable Status in 2011. We help destitute and disadvantaged Ethiopians in Ethiopia and the United Kingdom. We provide housing with support in Ethiopia - helping better our clients lives through education and employment with the aim of them one day living independently - with dignity and a future for themselves and their families - for generations to come.
Also within the United Kingdom we provide help to Ethiopians and Eritreans. We offer confidential and impartial advice, translation services, advocacy and friendship. We work in partnership with a host of other charitable organisations. We rely on public donations to fund all of our projects. If you would like to donate to us please click on the button above. It goes without saying that every penny helps us. We have no paid members of staff. Thank you in advance.
The Zelka Foundation started with a dream and an idea in 2008. It was formed by 6 people – 5 of whom were born and raised in Ethiopia but who now live and are settled in the United Kingdom as British Citizens. It became a formal organisation in 2009 that began to raise funds to help destitute and homeless Ethiopians in Ethiopia and support Ethiopian and Eritrean Refugees and Asylum Seekers within the United Kingdom.
With the support of the Ethiopian Community in the UK it grew until is reached a size that registration with The Charities Commission seemed appropriate – it became a Registered Charity in 2011. We are proud to call ourselves an Ethiopian Diaspora Organisation.
All the Ethiopian trustees grew up in and around some of the poorest parts of Ethiopia and knew, in reality, the lives of its most disadvantaged people would only be changed with the help of its own people - working in partnership with the International Community and established Ethiopian NGOs.
From this The Zelka Foundation was created and named after Mr Zelka Berue - who worked endlessly to alleviate the suffering of his people until his death in 2001.
The current chair has considerable ties to Ethiopia – is married to an Ethiopian and has been to Ethiopia on many occasions - he has an Ethiopian Residency Card and a home in Addis Ababa. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing with over 25 years’ experience working for and with UK charities.
Our international objectives are to build low cost supported housing in Ethiopia and to provide education and employment opportunities to urban slum dwellers in Addis Ababa.