Look To The Stars News: Helena Bonham Carter

British Stars Donate Dresses Fit For A Princess

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:30:00 -0000

In collaboration with the Princess Alice Hospice charity in the UK, The Bentall Centre in Kingston is hosting a star-studded fashion exhibition from 26th September 2009 until 19th October showcasing celebrity party attire in store windows, which will then be online at www.ebya.co.uk/charity from 19th October, to raise money for the Hospice.

Over forty personalities and luminaries, including; Dame Helen Mirren, Lynda Bellingham, Samantha Cameron, Beth Ditto, Girls Aloud’s Kimberley Walsh, Helena Bonham Carter, Geri Halliwell, Paloma Faith, Joanna Lumley, Trinny Woodhall, Fearne Cotton, Twiggy and The Saturdays have all kindly donated dresses to the Fit For a Princess event.

Unique pieces include an Alberta Ferretti sequin skirt and top which was worn at The Planet of the Apes premiere by Helena Bonham Carter, Paloma Faith’s gorgeous green silk and lace prom dress, which she wore in her latest ‘New York’ music video and a Herve Leger gown from Beverley Knight. There is a wonderful two piece worn by Joanna Lumley at a James Bond gala, which in her letter given with the dress boasts that they have been ‘shaken and stirred’ by two 007 agents – Daniel Craig and Roger Moore!

Most of the attire donated comes with provenance from the celebrity patrons i.e. signed pictures and letters, which potential new owners will gain.

Garments from these celebrities amongst other musicians, actresses and fashionistas will be displayed exclusively in The Bentall Centre for one month. Visitors to the Centre will then be able to bid for their favourite idol’s outfit through an auction on eBAY, with all proceeds coming to Princess Alice Hospice.

The auction goes live on October 19 and runs until October 29. To be sure of getting your hands on a celebrity treasure visit www.ebay.co.uk/charity and type in Fit for a Princess as your search term.

Darran Hutchings, Communication Officer at Princess Alice Hospice, said, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with The Bentall Centre on such a large and high profile project. Not only are they dedicated to supporting local charities, they are also able to deliver highly professional and rewarding events. Together we will be able to raise money for, and raise the profile of this vital local charity”.

Princess Alice Hospice is a registered charity based in Esher, Surrey. It provides specialist end of life and palliative care for people with life-limiting illnesses and their families both at the Hospice and in their homes. The Hospice catchment area includes Surrey, South West London and Middlesex serving a population in excess of 1 million. Over £7 million is needed each year to provide these vital and much needed services, with limited NHS funding over 75% of funding must be raised through voluntary donations and fundraising.

More info about the Princess Alice Hospice can be found at www.pah.org.uk.

Stars Heal Patients With A Kiss

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Marie Gorrettie

Medicinema is a registered charity that has partnered with the Health Sector and the Film Industry, installing state-of-the-art cinemas on site in hospitals around the United Kingdom.

By creating purpose built cinemas in hospitals, Medicinema provides a much needed escape for the patients – it’s a welcome break from the hospital ward. Each cinema is specially designed to cater for beds and wheel chairs and nursing staff on duty throughout every Medicinema screening.

With nurses instead of usherettes, Medicinema harnesses the magic of the Silver Screen to help enrich the quality of life for patients. By screening the latest releases for patients young and old – including those in beds and on wheelchairs – patients and their families are able to escape the reality of hospital life.

As the lights dim and the film starts, with the big screen filled and Dolby Surround sound bursting into life, patients can be forgiven for thinking they are spending a night in the West End – apart from the occasional bleep of a patient’s monitor, you could be in a cinema!

Everyone needs a little escapism in their lives, especially if they’re in hospital. There is often not very much to look forward to so a visit to the cinema can give a much-needed boost to the spirits, providing the sort of family outing that is otherwise difficult in hospital. With the help and active support of the leading film distributors, Medicinema screens a wide variety of feature films from action and adventure to romantic comedies. Some films are even screened to Medicinema audiences before they go on general release.

As part of a new initiative, stars of the Silver Screen have donated kisses to celebrate ten years of Medicinema to help enhance therapeutic care for patients in hospitals around UK. To mark their 10th Anniversary, MediCinema is auctioning the HEALED WITH A KISS COLLECTION. The collection contains over 50 original signed lip prints from some of the biggest names in the Film Industry. The following are the stars who have donated Healed With A Kiss Lip Prints to help bring magic of the Silver Screen to hospital patients across UK: Madonna, Catherine Zeta Jones, Dame Helen Mirren, Sigourney Weaver, Ewan McGregor, Kate Winslet, John Hurt, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Helena Bonham Carter, Dame Judi Dench, Joan Collins, Glenn Close, Shirley MacLaine, Dame Diana Rigg, Kate Beckinsale, Thandie Newton, Nickolas Grace, Tim Roth, Jeremy Irons, Ben Stiller, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Broadbent, Honor Blackman, John Travolta, Claire Bloom, Martine McCutcheon, Greta Scacchi, Saffron Burrows, Geraldine Chaplin, Mariella Frostrup, Juliet Stevenson, Robbie Coltrane, Zoë Wanamaker, Cathy Tyson, Jason Isaacs, Anthony Andrews, Tommy Steele, Mark Addy, Kenneth Branagh, Alice Eve, and Dwayne Johnson.

The Auction party will be held in April 2009 and the complete Healed With A Kiss collection will be auctioned at the Medicinema Private Auction Party at The Movieunm, London’s biggest Film Memorabilia Museum.

The Healed With A Kiss Auction party will offer you the opportunity to own these highly collectable pieces of film memorabilia and the chance to rub shoulders with Movers and Shakers of the film industry. Hugh Edmeades, Christie’s International Auctioneer, will chair the auction in support of MediCinema. An exclusive drinks reception, live entertainment and a private tour will be followed by the auction of the healed with a kiss collection in support of MediCinema.

Here are some of the quotes from patients and their families whom MediCinema has touched:

“Really happy at the thought that I was not going to have to spend an evening on the ward, staring at a blank wall with no neighbours and chewing my lips to avoid being in pain”. Niamh.

“I completely forgot that I was in hospital, and that I had loads of needles in my arm, and when the film ended I thought “right, time to go home; and it was only when the lights came back on and I saw all the other beds and steelchairs that I remembered that I was in hospital”. Jesica, St Thomas patient.

If you would like to Bid for Original Signed Lip prints from the Stars of the Silver Screen and attend the Auction Party and bid in person please contact MediCinema: Tel:+44(0) 20 7188 3697 or email medicinema@gstt.nhs.uk.

If a celebrity lip print has caught your eye, you can make an advance bid before attending the Auction event in writing, on line or by telephone.

If you are unable to attend the Auction Party in person, you can secure an original signed lip print by placing “ABSENTEE” Bid, in writing, on line or by telephone. Please register your bid/s in the Healed with a Kiss Auction by contacting medicinema@gsst.nhs.uk or telephoning +44 (0) 20 7188 3697.

Once you have registered interest in placing an “Absentee” or advance bid, you will be contacted to confirm your bid and contact details.

For more information about the Auction Party please contact MediCinema on +44 (0) 20 7188 3697 or email medicinema@gstt.nhs.uk.

Helena Bonham Carter Becomes Patron Of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Charity

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:30:00 -0000

British actress Helena Bonham Carter is the new patron of Action Duchenne, the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Charity.

Bonham Carter is the latest of a line of celebrities to support Action Duchenne, the Charity established to support parents and sufferers of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Duchenne affects 2,500 people in the UK and about 40,000 people worldwide. It has no cure and is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene that prevent correct reading of the genetic code, the result of which is that the essential muscle protein dystrophin is not produced. This results in progressive muscle wasting, severely limiting mobility in teenage patients (boys and men) and leading to premature death in their twenties from respiratory or cardiac problems (the heart muscle is directly affected by the genetic defect).

“As a patron of Action Duchenne, I would like to urge as many people as possible to find out about the work of the charity and the devastating effects of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,” said Bonham Carter. “Treatments and a cure seem tantalisingly close but they will not appear without further support and funding. Please join Action Duchenne in helping to make muscle wasting history.”

The actress becomes the first patron of the charity and joins other famous supporters of the charity, including Tim Henman, Mike Brearley, Maureen Lipman, Lloyd Honeyghan, David Puttnam and Bryan Robson.

“Helena Bonham Carter and our other supporters provide an incredible boost to all Duchenne sufferers and their families,” said Nick Catlin, CEO of Action Duchenne. “It is uplifting that people whose lives are untouched by this disease are still able to demonstrate compassion and support for families that are affected by this devastating, life-limiting condition. We are very grateful to all our patrons and the support that they give – our fundraising efforts will continue to be a focus to find a cure for this disease.”

Amy Winehouse Gets Frank For Breast Cancer

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:57:10 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Look out world, Amy Winehouse is back in… nothing at all!

The 24-year-old Back in Black singer will appear naked in the April issue of Easy Living magazine to raise awareness of breast cancer.

The campaign, which also includes photos of Sade and Helena Bonham Carter, will feature black and white snaps of the women taken by award-winning photographer Carolyn Djangoly.

Kristin Davis Supports Oxfam on Rachael Ray Show

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:57:00 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Sex and the City actress Kristin Davis is set to appear on the Rachael Ray Show today, with an adorable miniature donkey by her side.

The donkey will be there to help Kristin introduce Oxfam America Unwrapped. The Oxfam program supports poverty relief around the world, and allows gift-givers to purchase unusual items such as camels ($175 each), gender rights training ($90), one year’s irrigation for a farm ($120) or a can of worms ($18). The gift’s recipient receives a photo card of the gift, and information on how it is helping someone in need.

Oxfam America Unwrapped is mirrored across the Atlantic by Oxfam Unwrapped. Supported by Dame Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter, and Will Young, the British Oxfam Unwrapped site allows givers to purchase 100 school lunches (£6/$12), teach a teacher (£24/$48) or provide safe drinking water (£18/$36).

Oxfam America strives to provide lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice in the US and around the world.

Oxfam Unwrapped For Christmas

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:39:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Dame Helen Mirren says “it’s ever so sad”. Singer Will Young invites people to look into his tear-filled, “weepy” eyes. And comedian Rob Brydon urges people to “give a loo [toilet] to the world”. Confused? Well, don’t be. It is all part of a new television advertisement for Oxfam Unwrapped, a fun campaign that aims to encourage people to buy presents with a positive impact this Christmas.

The advertisement, which has just gone to air in England, pokes fun at the traditional charity appeal ads that appear on our screens every Christmas, by stating how millions of people in Britain suffer every year from receiving gifts they do not want. It is a tongue-in-cheek way of raising awareness of the Oxfam campaign.

“Oxfam Unwrapped is a novel idea where you can buy friends and relatives presents that really make a difference to other people’s lives,” said Helena Bonham Carter, who appears in the advertisement weeping over a novelty fish. “Why buy someone something they don’t want or need – like a flapping, singing fish? Oxfam’s gifts are life-changing – that’s serious – but Oxfam Unwrapped is fun, too.”

Oxfam Unwrapped was launched in 2004, and has since gone on to sell over 1.2 million gifts to help people in 49 countries. The campaign seeks to improve the lives of poverty-stricken people around the world by allowing consumers to purchase a wide selection of items needed by communities in developing countries. The buyer can choose from items such as fertilizer, toilets, condoms, essential medicines, and school books , which are then donated to countries where they are needed. The buyer receives a gift card and fridge magnet to say what they have bought and where it has gone.

“Oxfam Unwrapped has proven itself as the ultimate way of giving unusual presents,” said Oxfam Director, Barbara Stocking. “Presents that are thoughtful and fun, but far-reaching at the same time.”

All of the items in the Oxfam Unwrapped campaign have been identified as the things that will make the biggest difference to help individual communities escape the effects of poverty. Categories include emergency relief, farming, health, and education, and individual items include sheep, mosquito nets, protect women packs, and rainwater harvesting systems. However, if you buy a sheep, you do not need to worry that it will be wrapped up, ears and all, and shipped off to Africa. Instead, the money from a purchase will go towards funding the program the item represents. For example, by purchasing a sheep or a pig, a donation will be made to an agriculture program, and the purchase of condoms will fund one of Oxfam’s health programs.

“Original presents are hard to find – we’re offering interesting and novel gifts that will help tackle poverty at the same time,” said Oxfam Australia’s Executive Director, Andrew Hewett. “They have been carefully chosen, and are tried and tested aspects of Oxfam’s everyday work to help communities in more than 40 countries. Every gift makes a difference whether you spend $10 or $200.”

More information about the campaign, including links to Oxfam Unwrapped programs around the world, is available here, and to view the television advertisement, click here.

Idols To Give Back On TV Special

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:21:10 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, and Forest Whitaker will be appearing on the two-night special, Idol Gives Back on April 24th and 25th. The stars hope to raise awareness and funds for relief programs helping children living in extreme poverty in America and Africa.

Other celebrities who plan to appear include the original American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Radcliffe, Teri Hatcher, and Rowan Atkinson.

The show on the 25th will include entertainment by Gwen Stefani, Josh Groban, Pink, Michael Buble, Annie Lennox, Il Divo and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Viewers will be encouraged to make donations on toll-free lines and the Internet, with the funds being distributed via the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund to Save the Children, UNICEF, and other organizations dealing with poverty, health and education in the U.S. and Africa.

The event is inspired by Red Nose Day, part of the UK’s Comic Relief, which has raised over $800 million in its history of entertainment fundraisers.

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