Twenty years ago, in January 2006, The Helen Foundation (THF) was formally launched. 

Following Helen’s tragic death on Boxing Day 2005 after a road accident, her family and friends decided they wanted to keep alive that exceptional energy, creativity and love of Theatre and the Arts that was so much part of Helen.  So we established a charity to encourage and support all of the arts, in state-funded schools in Teignbridge - the part of Devon where Helen grew up and loved so much. As she had said, “You can take a girl out of Devon but you can’t take Devon out of a girl!”

The result of the Trustees' decision turned into (the first!) 20 years of The Helen Foundation, where every year over 1000 young people experience high-quality, exciting and memorable arts workshops in their schools, and lettinget young people “dare to dream”! That amounts to over 20,000 youngsters benefitting - so far! - from THF outreach.

We would love this work to continue.  Can you help us to achieve this during our special commemoration year? We aim to build a substantial fund that, effectively invested, will ensure that Helen’s legacy provides opportunities and experiences in the arts for Teignbridge young people long into the future.

Can you come up with a contribution - large or small - that encompasses the numbers two and zero: £2; £20; £200; £2000 (or any variations of 2s and 0s) - or frankly, whatever you can manage!  Maybe set yourself your own creative challenge and seek sponsorship?

How about seeking sponsorship for baking 20 cakes for sale at your point of work? Doing 20 press-ups or sit-ups a day for 20 days? Run, walk, or cycle 20 kilometres/miles (or complete 20 laps of a park/garden) every week for 20 weeks? Dip into the local sea or river 20 days consecutively (take care, please!). Carry out 20 community litter picks over 20 weeks? Clean 20 cars in your neighbourhood over 20 weeks? The possibilities are endless!

Any contributions of any size would be very gratefully received and used to benefit young people in Teignbridge with brilliant experiences in the arts, and new opportunities to meet their own artistic ambitions.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate, saving time - and cutting costs - for The Helen Foundation. Do tick the GiftAid option when paying, if you are a UK taxpayer, to increase the value of your donation by 25% at no cost to yourself!