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A living
memorial to support the artistic aspirations of young people
THE Helen Foundation was launched in early 2006 as a living memorial to 24-year-old Helen Kirk, then working as a classically-trained actor in London, who died after a road accident on Boxing Day, 2005. The foundation achieved charitable status in March 2006.
Chairman Roger Kirk writes: During the past five years, the Helen Foundation
has developed four strands of work. First, we support schools through special subsidies that allow them to engage artists to work with their children, on a project that the school has developed. The foundation has pledged £20,000 for the year 2010-2011 to this scheme to support all Devon County schools in Teignbridge. Second, individual bursaries are an important part of our work. Current examples include an autistic boy with special singing lessons and a young woman who has gained a place at The National Youth Theatre. Young people seeking bursaries can apply through our website. Third, most Teignbridge schools, at the schools’
own requests, now present the Helen Foundation Award. This award is given annually by the school to the pupil who has shown ‘most endeavour in the arts’ and has rewarded a very wide range of talents among young people since its inception. Finally, we fund special projects such as the production of the children-made mosaic panels in the Bovey Tracey Swimming Pool. We have recently worked with the Bath Philharmonia and
The Shaldon Music Festival on an inter-schools music project for children with learning disabilities and a schools project in partnership with the National Trust and The National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies at Compton Castle. We produce a monthly e-newsletter and supporters are warmly invited to join the distribution list. Our website is at
http://www.thehelenfoundation.org.uk/ and is updated regularly with news, features and photographs of our activities as well as providing background information on the foundation. We have no corporate or large individual sponsors
but are funded by the generosity of people within and beyond Teignbridge who donate through collecting boxes, sponsored events and special fundraising occasions such as concerts. All donations are warmly welcomed. Contact us through the website.
‘The very generous contribution towards arts costs means that we are able to offer children opportunities which would otherwise be unaffordable. Through The Helen Foundation we have put on an annual MED theatre performances, had many artists into school and last year took children to a mask-making activity. The Helen Foundation does brilliant work, especially at a time when the Arts might be further squeezed with tight budgets. Thank you.’ Kate Edwards, Headteacher Widecombe School
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