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 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”."

Mel B Gets Spicey For Charity

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

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.

Emma Thompson Speaks Out for the Forgotten

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

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.

Emma Thompson’s Sex Slave Journey

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

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.