Helen Ellis - Founder of Migrant Helpline

Swiss national Helen Ellis was born in 1913, moving to the UK in the 1930s with her husband. She became involved in her life-long work, helping migrants and foreigners in distress in the 1950s when she began assisting Swiss au pairs in finding suitable families in the UK.

Her efforts were soon recognised by the Immigration Service and her work evolved into helping the many nationalities traveling through Dover. In 1963 she established the Kent Committee for the Welfare of Migrants. To begin with Helen worked with very little assistance or funding although she eventually secured a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation. In recognition of her work she was awarded the MBE in 1967.

As a result of her commitment and dedication, the growing charity became known to the Home Office and Helen was asked to visit America to research the immigration appeals process. She reported back to the Wilson Committee, a government body whose findings were considered during the formulation of the Immigration and Nationality Act 1971. For many years Helen was a member of the Executive Council of the Committee.

By the early nineties the main client group of the organisation had become newly arrived asylum seekers and in 1993 Helen had secured funding from the Home Office to provide a support service for them. The charity, now known as Migrant Helpline, employs around 150 staff and has offices throughout the South East of England.

Helen Ellis died in 2002 at the age of 89.