Helix Arts

Charity Details

Full Name: Helix Arts Limited
Field: Arts & Heritage
Founded: 1983
Headquarters: Tyne and Wear, NE1 6HQ
Charity No.: 700956

History and Activities

Helix Arts is a non-profit organisation for the promotion of arts originally founded as the ‘Artists Agency’ in 1983 by Lucy Fairley. Lucy had run her own gallery in London and was frustrated that only the wealthy seemed to get involved in art. When she moved to the North East she decided to establish an agency with a mission to encourage broader participation across the arts from performance to music production and textiles.

Helix Arts provides approximately 300 arts-based sessions per year for a diverse range of clients including children, under 25s with learning needs, people facing ill health and older adults. In 2017-8 the charity delivered activities through 8 projects which all aimed to increase participation in the arts across a range of demographics. Helix Arts is able to reach so many diverse communities through a commitment to building partnerships with a range of organisations across the North East.

One of their largest projects, delivered in partnership with the North East Prisoner After Care Society [NEPACS], is a music project called ‘Hidden Voices’. The project is delivered through a series of workshops and focuses on working with children whose fathers are or were, held in HMP Kirklevington Grange near Middlesbrough. Children were able to express their experiences of seeing a parent in custody through songs. The songs alone provide powerful insights but the second stage of the project enabled the fathers of children to respond. The result was a toolkit that can now be applied across UK prisons service to help rebuild families with similar experiences.

Helix Arts received a total philanthropic income of £162,864 in 2017-8. This included a number of significant grants received from sponsors including; £37,100 from NEPACS, £25,000 from The Garfield Weston Foundation, £22,461 the Dunhill Medical Trust and £19,264 from the Youth Music Foundation.

Vital Statistics (year to 31/04/2018)

Website
https://www.helixarts.com

References