An Oxford lawyer who remortgaged her flat to set up a children’s home in Pakistan has started to see the benefits of her gamble.

Nina Ali, below, had hoped to sell her London flat, which she commutes to during the week from her family home in Summertown, so she could plough the profit into setting up the Millie Mittoo Children’s Project, which runs a home for orphaned girls.

But with the slump in the property market, she decided she would have to find the money another way and remortgaged the flat.

Now, just three months after it opened, the Sofia House children’s home, in Pakistan’s capital city Islamabad, is already half-full.

Ms Ali said she first hit upon the idea of opening the home after she decided against adopting children of her own.

She said: “I wasn’t sure about uprooting children if you are effectively a single person without a long-term partner. So it occurred to me I should set up a project which would help a number of children.”

The charity is named after Millie Hussain, her eldest niece, who lives in Summertown.

Ms Ali said: “The word mittoo just means sweetie and we used to call my niece Millie Mittoo.

“Sofia House is named after my second niece. Hopefully, we will soon have enough homes for me to name them after each of my five nieces.”

Ms Ali, who was born in Lahore, said every penny donated went directly to the charity as she paid all administration costs herself.

She added: “Every part of every pound people donate is going to where it’s needed.

“It’s a part of the world where girls have a tough time anyway, and if you’re an orphan you’re in such a vulnerable position. We try to create a home for the girls.

“Without meaning to sound trite, if everybody took it upon themselves to support one poor household or child, we could eradicate poverty.”

Ms Ali will be running a stall at the Harpes Road Street Festival, in Summertown, on Saturday, where she will be selling samosas to raise money for the charity and spreading the word about the children’s home, helped by her nieces.

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk For more details, see milliemittoochildrens projects.com