The Dispossessed: Bosnian who fled civil war gives £50,000
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Diana Jenkins today backed the Evening Standard's Dispossessed campaign with a £50,000 donation that puts the fund on the brink of reaching its £1million target.
Her generous contribution pushes the total raised to more than £900,000, with every donation being matched by the Government.
"The Dispossessed is a great cause and congratulations on what you are doing for our capital," said Mrs Jenkins, founder and chief executive of DrinkNeuro.
Born in Sarajevo, Mrs Jenkins fled Bosnia during the siege of the town as the 44-month war, which begin in 1992 and is estimated to have killed 10,000 people, tore her country apart.
She emigrated to London, where she studied computer science at City University. A supporter of Aids research, Mrs Jenkins has organised and hosted fund-raisers for the Elton John Aids Foundation, including this year's Academy Awards Viewing Party which raised $3.7 million.
Today she hailed our campaign, saying it was bringing change to the lives of Londoners. She said: "This will make a big difference to many lives, I have no doubt." The cash will be distributed to grassroots charities — which have been active in their communities for more than a year and have an income of less than £30,000 — working to lift people out of poverty in five areas: education; getting people into work; tackling gangs, guns and knife crime; health; and addressing areas such as homelessness, pensioner hardship and the working poor.
