Charity Spotlight: Children & the Arts
Actor and model Noah Huntley—best known for his roles in The Royals and Dracula Untold, and now starring alongside Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette in Miss You Already—is all set to run in October’s Royal Parks Half Marathon for Children & the Arts.
Noah told us that the charity has been ‘transforming children’s lives through its wonderful arts programmes.’ We talked to Children & the Arts to find out more about the charity that Noah has put his heart and sole into supporting.
Tell us about the charity.
In the UK thousands of children from disadvantaged backgrounds leave school never having set foot in an art gallery, watched a performance in a theatre or listened to an orchestra play.
Children & the Arts believes that every child in the UK should have the opportunity to be inspired by the arts. We know that early engagement with the arts at a young age has a positive impact, raising aspirations, increasing confidence, improving communication skills and unlocking creativity.
We create arts programmes that enable arts venues and schools to form sustainable partnerships over a period of years, giving schools the means and motivation to take children on a journey to see professional performances and exhibitions for the first time.
We also empower teachers to bring the arts into the classroom with confidence, by creating high-quality classroom resource materials and offering intensive arts-based training and development.
As well as working with schools we also work with local children’s hospices, enabling families to take part in arts activities together away from the medical, physical and emotional demands of their daily lives.
What are your funding sources?
Fundraising is central to all our activities, with the emphasis on growing our income in order to unlock the arts for many more children.
It costs just £50 for a child to take part in one year of Children & the Arts’ activities.
We are dependent upon the support of individuals, companies and charitable trusts to fund our work.
We have just launched an exciting patrons programme, which we hope will provide us with a new source of income; in return, patrons receive invitations to exclusive events as well as regular updates on our projects.
What obstacles does your organisation face?
We are a small charity with limited resources. Despite our efforts there are still many children who need our intervention. We continue to increase our fundraising and expand our support so that we can reach out to all the children that would benefit from our programmes.
Unfortunately, there are still many people who are unaware of who we are and what we do. Our aim is to increase awareness of the charity through publicising our success and building a strong network of support to sustain our work.
Do you hold events throughout the year?
All our fundraising activities, including our events, underpin our national programmes, working with children most in need.
Our Christmas Concert at Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Square is one of the highlights of our annual calendar.
If you join our patrons programme you can experience private views of art exhibitions, enjoy artist studio tours and attend events hosted by our celebrity ambassadors.
How can people get involved?
There are lots of ways you can get involved including, like Noah, taking part in an event.
Whether you like to run, swim, cycle—or jump out of a plane—why not do it for Children & the Arts? See the Support Us page of our website or why not just get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
Why not spread the word even further? Show your support for us and share it with family, friends and colleagues through social media.
Find out more about Children & the Arts or show your support for Noah’s half marathon, to be held on Sunday the 11th of October.
