Look To The Stars News: Women's Aid

James Bond Joins Annie Lennox For International Women's Day

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:45:00 +0000

James Bond star Daniel Craig appears in drag for a special video produced for a partnership of leading charities brought together by Annie Lennox.

The two-minute short, specially commissioned for International Women’s Day, sees the 007 star undergo a dramatic makeover as he puts himself, quite literally, in a woman’s shoes.

Directed by acclaimed ‘Nowhere Boy’ director/conceptual artist Sam Taylor-Wood, scripted by Jane Goldman (‘Kick Ass’) and featuring the voice of Dame Judi Dench reprising her role as ‘M’, the film will be screened in cinemas and streamed online in a bid to highlight the levels of inequality that persist between men and women in the UK and worldwide. It is the first film featuring Bond to be directed by a woman.

Annie Lennox Invites You To Join Big Inequality Debate

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Annie Lennox and the EQUALS partnership of charities invite you to Join the Big Inequality Debate and celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, on 8 March 2011.

Oxfam’s global ambassador and Barclays Woman of the Year, Annie Lennox OBE, has brought together a coalition of charities that champion women’s rights to ensure that the centenary of International Women’s Day (IWD), on 8 March, is a catalyst for celebration and positive change.

The EQUALS coalition comprises ActionAid, Amnesty International, The Fawcett Society, Oxfam, Plan International, Save the Children, The White Ribbon Alliance For Safe Motherhood, Women’s Aid and Women for Women International. It is supported by an evolving partnership of organisations, including 1Goal, Bond, Merlin, Mumsnet, Object, One World Action, UKFeminista, VSO, WomanKind and Women for Refugee Women, and is collaborating with arts partners such as Birds Eye View, Brightwide, Britdoc/Good Screenings, Funny Women and the Southbank Centre.

Keira Knightley Stars In Domestic Violence Campaign

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Actress Keira Knightley stars in the new Women’s Aid short called Cut, created for the charity’s fight against domestic violence campaign that launched last week.

The two-minute film is tense from beginning to end. The premise is simple: Knightly comes home from work. But on a darker note, it also portrays what many women endure regularly: coming home from work to an abusive partner. Cut packs a wallop, literally.

“While domestic violence exists in every section of society, we rarely hear about it,” said Knightly in a press release. “We may not think we know someone who has experienced domestic violence, but this does not mean that it is not happening.”

Elizabeth Hurley Stamps For Charity

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Two postage stamps featuring signed photos of actress and model Elizabeth Hurley have been sold by auction on eBay for over £1,550 (US$2,250).

Both stamps featured pictures of Hurley’s son Damien and are part of a limited-edition Mothers’ Day themed “Smilers” range which also includes photos donated by model Jasmine Guinness. Money from the stamps will go to Women’s Aid, a UK-based domestic violence charity that helps up to 250,000 women and children every year.

The campaign – which has already raised over £5000 – aims to raise funds to assist the organization’s 500 local services throughout the UK that work to end domestic violence against women and children. The charity will use the money to help empower women who have been affected by domestic violence, meet the needs of children affected by domestic violence, provide services run by women which are based on listening to survivors, challenge the disadvantages which result from domestic violence, support and reflect diversity and promote equality of opportunity, and promote cohesive inter-agency responses to domestic violence and develop partnership.

Gordon Ramsay Cooks Up A Success For Women's Aid

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:30:00 +0000

A star-studded dinner organised by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and his wife, Tana, raised money for Women’s Aid in London last week.

The 41-year-old chef shared compèring duties with DJ Neil Fox at the black-tie event for the Women’s Aid ACT — Until Women and Children are Safe campaign. Among the 300 guests at Hanover Square in London on Thursday night were the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah – who is a patron of Women’s Aid – as well as Elizabeth Hurley, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Trinny Woodall.

Women’s Aid is a national charity in Britain that aims to end domestic violence against women and children. Proceeds from Ramsay’s dinner – an annual event that last year raised over US$400,00 for the charity – will go towards a planned project to improve advice and support for abused women and kids, as well as lobbying for changes in the law to improve the lives of victims.