The inspiration for this charity followed my volunteer work for Cultural Canvas on their Art Relief International (ARI) project in North Thailand, August 2013. I came into contact with ‘Hope Home’, founded in 2007 by Judy Cook, a missionary nurse from the UK.
The moment I walked into Hope Home I felt myself returning to my roots. To the hopes and aspirations of my teenage years, volunteering at an art studio in a converted garage for adults who had learning disabilities and mental health difficulties. Since then I have dedicated myself to working with children and adults with learning disabilities, later qualifying as an Art therapist and expanding my work within the field of child mental health. Creating the charity Raising Hope and Joy is the next step on this journey.
Working alongside a team of inspirational individuals as a part of ARI meant that murals got painted on walls and inspirational ideas were turned into workshops. People from different cultures, backgrounds and experiences worked together as one, a community in our own right, turning ideas into actions, actions into smiles, fun and creativity, actions that gave others hope and joy. What a community has the potential to achieve has become the ethos behind this charity.
As founder of this charity it is no longer just my ideas. Already it has become about family and friends working together, about children who are giving me first hand knowledge and advice about what children need. We now have a small board of trustees dedicated to seeing it grow and develop, to ensure your pennies are being well spent, and to turn inspirational ideas into realities.
No amount of funding can change the world, for that is about attitudes and politics. What it can do is give a little extra hope to communities, and the joy of creativity that every child deserves.
This is how it all began – how it continues will be inspired by you.
Thank you,
Helen.
Raising Hope and Joy was founded on the 19th Oct 2013 in memory of Joan Knee who dedicated her life to children.