Children taking part in a session with Helium Arts
Visit to Helium Arts
On 17th May 2019, I met Anna McCarthy the Fundraising and Development Manager of Helium Arts. Our meeting took place in Dublin where Anna explained that Helium Arts hoped to run a Creative Health Hub. I was there to assess a grant towards the project.
About Helium Arts
Helium Arts is the national children’s arts and health organisation. They bring art, creativity and play to children and teenagers in hospitals and healthcare settings across Ireland. There are 160,000 children and teenagers living every day in Ireland with the long-term effects of illness. Helium Arts provides positivity to the childrens’ lives through award-winning, participatory arts programmes.
The Charity’s creative projects take place in hospital, health and community settings around Ireland, transforming the healthcare experience of young people and those who care for them through art, imagination and play.
Helium collaborates with professional artists to research, develop and pioneer arts practice in partnership with healthcare professionals. They are also a leading contributor to arts and health policymaking in Ireland and are committed to mentoring artists and healthcare providers through professional development programmes.
About the Creative Health Hubs
Helium Creative Health Hubs have previously been funded by The Hospital Saturday Fund for Cork, Limerick and Galway. The Hubs have been very successful and in Cork alone, 868 children were helped in 2018.
The aim of the Creative Health Hub in Dublin is to support children in the community who are isolated and marginalised due to a long-term illness or disability. This initiative will be a type of social prescribing; it will be an oncologist nurse who will recommend children for Helium Arts workshops. It’s always good to visit Helium Arts, be updated and hear about their latest project.
Find out more about Helium Arts
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