FOUNDERS

Lilian Simonsson and Jo McDonald are Co-Directors and Founders of Enthum House

Lilian – Director of Development, Communication and Partnerships
After working as a filmmaker with European wide clients for over 15 years, I became deeply affected by the plight of people stranded in the ‘Calais Jungle’ in France. I volunteered between 2015-16 at the Women and Children Centre, making campaign films for Safe Passage and the Lord Alf Dubs Amendment, a respected Labour peer himself once a child refugee fleeing Nazi Germany. This inspired me to set up refugee support groups in Lewes and co-found Enthum House with Jo, overseeing its operations and outreach programmes.

Jo – Director of Resources and Strategy
I have a social anthropology, arts and teaching background and have been involved in humanitarian activities for the last 16 years. I volunteered to support Mata Amritanandmayi Ma programmes in the UK and India in 2005-2015. This international charity creates schools, hospitals and education programmes in India and developing countries for disadvantaged communities. My experience fed into a passion about the plight of refugees when I visited the unofficial camp – ‘Calais Jungle’ with Lilian in 2015. The Enthum Foundation was a dormant charity and we brought it to life in 2016. Lilian and I started fundraising and The Mark Leonard Trust was our first donor and their grant kick-started the charity.