February 2010 Newsround

In a unique joint project between the National Trust, NADFAS (National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies) and The Helen Foundation, we are offering three schools the opportunity to take part in a day-long workshop at Compton Castle, Marldon, in June/July 2010.

The concept of the project is that 90 primary school children (30 each from three different schools) will come with their teachers to Compton Castle and tour this fascinating historic building under the guidance of an artist skilled in mask-making. Using images drawn from their visit and through discussion, the children will then, led by the artist, each create their own mask, working in the castle grounds in special tent pavilions. The masks will form part of an exhibition for visitors to the Castle to view. The artist will be engaged for three days and each school will have their own day. We shall report more fully nearer the time. Our thanks fo to Compton Castle, The National Trust and NADFAS for their enthusiastic support for this project.

Over the past two years the Foundation has been supporting a young violinist with music lessons. This young person is now well settled in a suitable school and has ambitions to achieve grade 8 in both violin at piano by Year 11 (age 16) and Diplomas in the Sixth Form.

Her mother writes: "Thank you so much for paying for the violin lessons for the past two years. Your support has been totally invaluable and got us through a very difficult time."

Her teacher adds: "Thank you so much for your financial assistance, it's hard to think of a more deserving student. She had made such fantastic progress, making full use of the lessons you have kindly facilitated...she is such a natural musician and performer."

We wish this talented student every success in the future.

Ann Pardoe of The Shaldon Festival Committee successfully bid on behalf of the Festival for funding from Awards for All for a joint Shaldon Festival and The Helen Foundation project that will take place in June this year. This project will produce a unique musical work inspired by the local environment and created by a wide spectrum of young people including the most profoundly disabled. The project has very strong support from the local community and will work in partnership with Dawlish Community College, Oaklands ParkSchool, Ratcliffe School, Bath Philharmonia, Bath Spa University and Exeter University. 'A Tale of Two Bridges' takes its inspiration from the fascinating links between the Shaldon Bridge and the quarrying of granite from nearby Dartmoor and the building of London Bridge which was bought by an American and ended up in Arizona. Further inspiration comes from the amazing whistle the bridge makes in a Force 8 westerly gale! The Big Lottery Grant of £3,390 will ensure that the project goes ahead. We shall report on the project in the summer.

The Dawlish Art Hub is a new initiative in Dawlish, supported by The Helen Foundation, to provide an attractive series of art workshops at weekends for families with young children and separate sessions for older children.

Artist Lauren Ballard says, "I'm really happy to be able to offer exciting regular art workshops for families and young people, and I'm very grateful to The Helen Foundation for their support. The range of activities and techniques will be diverse, with ideas drawn from different cultures to celebrate UK's multi-ethnicity, as well as opportunities to engage with the local environment. This is a chance for people to have fun and to be creative, whilst making an impact on Dawlish by linking with local community events and art exhibitions. These workshops are in association with TRAIL (Trail Recycled Art In Landscape), so, of course, in the lead up to the summer season we will make work to contribute to this well established innovative public event."

The Framing Lot, a thriving business in Dawlish, has been a strong supporter of The Foundation since our early days. Following the recent Muse concerts in Teignmouth, they have had many orders from customers for framing the beautiful posters designed for the event and generously pledged 10% of their charges for The Foundation. As a result, they recently made a donation of £100 to our funds.

They also contine to raise money for The Foundation by offering mounts and off-cuts of mounting board at special prices. Thank you, Alec and Jo, for all you do.

The Teignmouth Players' pantomime, Little Red Riding Hood, nominated Childen's Hospice South West and The Helen Foundation as joint beneficiaries of the bucket collections that took place at the end of each performance in January. Through the generosity of the audiences, we raised over £300 for the Foundation.

Thank you Players!

We are currently supporting a young student who has been selected after fierce competition for a place at the prestigious National Youth Theatre. Her teacher writes in support: "She is expected to do well at GCSE and is heading for 'A' Level courses in the future.Her drive and sense of ambition are paramount and she is capable of juggling academic achievement with a rich and varied cultural diet. I know she wants to pursue these ambitions at degree level and she is capable of great things. She is hard-working, self- effacing and generous in spirit. I can think of no-one I would recommend to you with greater enthusiasm." We wish her well in her career.

We know many of you really enjoyed our pre-Christmas event at Powderham Castle. Professor George Pratt, a keen supporter of the Foundation, has the terrific ambition of fully restoring the beautiful organ in the Music Room at the Castle. On Saturday 13 March 2010 at 7.30pm there is a performance on a domestic scale as it might have been given in one of the London's grand houses during or shortly after Handel's lifetime. Profits from the concert will go to help restore the historic organ of 1769.

Tickets are available priced £20 by calling the Powderham Box Office on 01626 890243. Good luck, George!

Lin and Mike Balster at the delightful Clifford Arms Shaldon have long supported the Foundation. We recently received a donation from their Thursday evening quiz nights through which they raise money for several charities. The quiz nights begin again In February. Come along - they are great fun!

The Shaldon Theatre Company generously nominated The Helen Foundation as the beneficiariary of their special Charity Night on Friday 29th January during their pantomime run of Mother Goose at the Carlton Theatre, Teignmouth. Helen loved her time on stage with the company - indeed, her first appearances on stage were in the Shaldon pantomimes - and it's very clear just how much the current group of young people in the company are enjoying their acting. OH YES THEY DO! What a great show - well done everyone. With a raffle and bucket collection £260 was raised. Thank you so much everyone!

The Devon Music Collective is a ground breaking music education project operating across South Devon. This project is now based in the iconic Lighthouse building on Paignton sea front and offers unrivalled opportunities to young people interested in music and music making.

Check out the website for more information: www.devonmusiccollective.com.

This exciting project is being re-launched this month. As The Helen Foundation, we are in discussions with the Devon Music Collective as to how we might best cooperate in the interests of young people within Teignbridge. Watch this space!

Get those trainers out of the cupboard and on your feet.! You know it makes sense...

Of course you always meant to take part in the British 10K London Run and now the time has come to commit yourself. On Sunday 11 July 2010, The Helen Foundation enters a team for the fifth year running in what has become the major fund-raising event of the year. The 10km route takes you past many of central London's world famous landmarks including St James's Palace, Trafalgar Square, St Paul's Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

It really is a tremendous event to take part in and we are asking everyone who has run in the past to run again and bring a friend to make our largest ever team for this special fifth anniversary run. The after-run get together is always great fun too! We have had such a lot of fun these past 4 years and 2010 promises to be even better. Have a look at our website, go to the "gallery" section and check out the photos from the British 10K London Run events from 2006 to 2009 to get a flavour of what it is like.

If you wish to take part this year, please email our trusty THF 10k Team organiser, Ben Galloway, as soon as possible: Ben Galloway.

It is possible that this will be the last year we do the 10K London Run (though we shall do something equally exciting in future) so if you have been thinking about it in the past and haven’t yet taken the plunge – go for it!