How do we do it?

The Ideas Partnership was founded by Elizabeth Gowing, Ardian Arifaj and Robert Wilton in 2009, as a charity registered under Kosovo law. It was meant to be a framework for diverse voluntary activities in education, the environment and cultural heritage. As we started to engage with particular problems – the reality of the challenges facing the people of Kosovo – we found ourselves working more intensely with marginalized minority communities, and the range of obstacles to their equal participation in education, and healthcare, and institutional and public life more widely.

At first we thought marginalized children were being kept out of school by choice. In fact it was because they didn’t have shoes. And because of the misinterpretation of a semi-mythical by-law. And because of institutional racism. And then some of our volunteers did an unprecedented door-to-door survey of lifestyle basics in the community and learned why an alarming number of babies didn’t live long enough to have a chance to get to school. And so our work continued to expand.

Elizabeth started teaching catch-up classes in a concrete shell above a mini-market in 2011. Over the years more and more of the work has been done by Kosovans, including those from the communities involved. And we now work in rather more appropriate places, including our new centre in Fushë Kosovë.

Our Ideas have always been about Partnership. We have continued to achieve, where much bigger official development professionals have failed, because we work in the community, with the community.

Our philosophy is simple:
– we help people in need;
– more importantly, we help people in need help themselves;
– above all, we help people in need help others in need.

Volunteering has always been at the heart of TIP’s work. Over the years we have welcomed an amazing range of people able to help with an amazing range of things – and have an extraordinary experience along the way. If you think this could be you, you can read a bit more and we’d love to hear from you.

We also have a small professional team of young Kosovans responsible for making sure we deliver the services we aim to, and keeping the organization functional and fully compliant with all aspects of the law. Though a significant proportion of our founders, volunteers and donors come from elsewhere in the world, from the start we have been a local NGO, and the team work hard to ensure that we are consistently meeting our legal obligations.

We attach the greatest seriousness to protecting the vulnerable people we work with. Within the wider framework of law and human rights, our approach is guided by TIP’s Child Protection/Safeguarding policy. If you might be engaging with us one way or another, note that we are also committed to upholding relevant protections of personal data: here’s our personal data protection policy. Many of our donations are channelled via TIPUK, a separate organization registered with the UK Charity Commission and ensuring compliance with UK law.

We depend on the support of individual donors – perhaps like you? We also believe that a single donation strengthens the connections of mutual acknowledgement and understanding that make our world viable. There’s more about donating to TIP here – including the institutional grants that help sustain particular projects.

For more, have a look at our latest newsletter; and here are the ones from Winter 2025-26 and Summer 2025.