Look To The Stars News: Helen Bamber Foundation

Emma Thompson Blogs On Charity

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Actress Emma Thompson, in a contribution to The Times, discusses the pitfalls of celebrity activism, but why it’s worth it.

“When you are famous,” writes Thompson, “working for charity has become almost de rigueur, and while it can be stunningly effective (witness [”Brad Pitt":http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/27-brad-pitt] in New Orleans) it can also be profoundly off-putting."

So can its overly-used terminology. Thompson notes: "Words such as “charity”, “cause”, “development”, “human rights” and “activism” can all become skewed with misuse. At best, overuse renders them banal. But at worst they become counterproductive. Say “human rights activist” and increasing numbers of people will just slam their hands over their ears. There is cause weariness even before you prefix “human rights activist” with that extra soul-sapping tag “celebrity”."

Nevertheless, Thompson sees all causes as connected to the human condition – the problem is that people don’t make that connection to their own daily lives. If only they would, they would see the return, not only to victims but to themselves:

“Thinking, and listening, and sometimes acting to help other people who may have survived and endured terrible situations can be (and this sounds very selfish, but it’s true) a fascinating practical investigation into how one can achieve some kind of progress in the business of being human. It takes only a tiny twist of consciousness to make the leap from a save-the-world complex to something much more honest, fulfilling and achievable.”

It’s fundamentally life-enhancing, she says, “how the survivor contributes to the development of human character – how the stories of those who have endured inhumanity can enrich us in the same way that listening to poetry can enrich us.”

Quoting Helen Bamber, who founded the human rights organisation Helen Bamber Foundation, Thompson says, “What she has always said is that the hardest stories to listen to are often the most rewarding stories to hear.”

Mel B Gets Spicey For Charity

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:17:07 -0000

Written by Regina Walton

Spice Girl and Dancing With The Stars sensation Melanie Brown has taken Girl Power one step further – she has posed nude for a campaign to benefit the Helen Bamber Foundation, a charity that campaigns against sex trafficking and works to benefit victims of the sex slave trade.

“I’m curvier now I’ve had kids but I like the way I look,” said the singer. “Women’s bodies are beautiful and any charity helping women is important.”

In addition to Mel B, Scottish television presenter Jenni Falconer has also contributed nude photos to the campaign.

“I posed to confront my fears of being naked,” said the 32-year-old. “Unlike victims of trafficking, I have a choice.”

Emma Thompson Speaks Out for the Forgotten

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:23:12 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

The Helen Bamber Foundation is holding a Candlelight Vigil to Remember the Forgotten in London this evening. The charity works with survivors of genocide, torture, trafficking and rape, offering them the support they need to rediscover their strength and security. The Foundation also works towards an end to human trafficking, offering hope to the living disappeared.

Their website says of the vigil: “It’s a small thing to light a candle but its meaning for those who remain lost in the dark is immeasurable.”

Speaking at the vigil will be Emma Thompson, an active Helen Bamber Foundation supporter, and actress/poet Eve Pearce. Music will be provided by Jazz trumpeter Guy Barker and vocalist Ian Shaw.

For more information on tickets or to make a donation, visit the Helen Bamer Foundation’s website.

Emma Thompson’s Sex Slave Journey

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:25:22 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson has lent her face and time to support the Journey installation, which recently appeared in front of London’s National Gallery and is now headed to other locations.

Journey’s seven rusty shipping containers, the kind also used for trafficking people, lined Trafalgar Square for a week last month. Each container was curated by a different artist, and each depicts elements in the life of a London sex slave, Elena, sold for £500 ($1,000 US) in Lithuania to traffickers, and then forced to serve 20 to 30 clients a day. Visitors to the installation leave at least disturbed, if not unnerved.

Created to bring attention to the work of the Helen Bamber Foundation, an organization that offers therapeutic treatment to those traumatised by violence and abuse, the installation came from Thompson’s friendship with Elena, one of Bamber’s clients. Thompson offers her studio for yoga and pilates to clients from the foundation.

“They come through a lot, and we have volunteers who teach drums and guitar. It’s part of their physical rehabilitation. I get to know people and we talk, and some people you make friends with,” Thompson says. “Our engagement with people who have suffered is full of riches. Our curiosity needs to be engaged instead of pity. We need engagement rather than charity.”

It is the goal of Journey to raise awareness about sex trafficking, and the fact that the UK has become the prime destination for trafficked women and girls. Its other goal, of course, is to raise funds for the Helen Bamber Foundation for the rehabilitation of victims. The foundation in particular wants the UK to sign up to the Council of Europe Convention on Trafficking.

Journey is due to go on tour to Glasgow, Liverpool, and hopefully eastern Europe.

Look To The Stars News: Helen Bamber Foundation

Emma Thompson Blogs On Charity

Related past articles

Mel B Gets Spicey For Charity

Related past articles

Emma Thompson Speaks Out for the Forgotten

Related past articles

Emma Thompson’s Sex Slave Journey

Related past articles