Cork children living with life-long health conditions showcase art work

HELIUM Arts, an award-winning Irish charity, offers free, specially designed art workshops for children and young people (ages 6-18) living with life-long physical health conditions.

I spoke with CEO Helene Hugel to get a sense of the work of the charity, and the difference it makes to the lives of children and families living with conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, spina bifida, and cystic fibrosis, among others.

In exciting news, St Peter’s Church on North Main Street is currently exhibiting work from Helium Arts Teenagers from December 7 to 22, with a special sharing day on Saturday, December 16. All are welcome to the showcase reflecting the creative journey taken by young people with artist Ashleigh Ellis.

How Helium Arts Developed

CEO Helene is a professional artist; originally she worked as a puppeteer and a clown, and visiting hospitals identified a need for the arts in such settings, and for young children living with life-long conditions. In Ireland, there are 160,000 children and teenagers living every day with the long-term effects of illness. Since 2010, more than 5,000 children and young people have discovered the world of Helium Arts, bringing positivity to their lives.

“These children often have lower energy levels. They can be bed-ridden. They also have fewer opportunities to be social. 

They can feel lonely and isolated and separated from their peers. 

Because of various medical appointments and times spent in clinics, they can find it difficult to make friends,” said Helene.

It is so important, she explains, to give them an opportunity to share and celebrate their talents, skills and voices – to experience the power of the arts first-hand.

Their work is not in art therapy, it is solely about providing access to the arts for all children, as well as raising community awareness around inclusion and acceptance.

Access to the arts is one of the rights afforded all children in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). But Helene is quick to stress that this is not solely about rights; these children have a great deal to offer broader community.

“One young person I spoke with recently put it so well. They highlighted how much life experience they have had, living with an illness up until the age of 17, having to be so strong and resilient. It is true. We need to hear these young people’s voices.”

A Network of Friends

Helium Arts, perhaps most importantly, provides an opportunity for children to make friends, despite restrictions placed on their lives by poor health.

“We run art workshops in Cork, Limerick and Galway for six weeks every Saturday and parents tell me that this is the first time their child has participated in anything without their parents, besides school where they are always accompanied by an SNA,” said Helene.

“These workshops give them an opportunity to be in the community with people like themselves. It is a starting point and they will often go on to make their own arrangements to see that friend again without our involvement.”

The charity makes a point of running these workshops in community settings, the CEO says.

They avoid art spaces as they can be intimidating and opt for libraries and community centres to keep it close to home and more approachable.

An amazing aspect for parents is that there is always a medical professional in the room.

“This is hugely important for families. Some parents aren’t able to leave their child unattended for a minute outside school. That can mean sharing a bed with them. This makes it hard for them to give attention to other children. 

The opportunity to go off and have a coffee to do something nice with the child’s sibling is really important.

The CEO says the groups become more and more professional as the children get older.

“Yes, I would definitely say there is an opportunity for the teenagers to work towards a career in a creative industry. The artists leading the workshops are professionals so there is great modelling going on.”

The groups are organised by age to foster friendships, and along with weekly workshops the charity also organises art camps during the easter and summer. An online programme allows children in the country to access the resources too.

Hospital Settings

Another context in which young people may encounter the programme is in the outpatient clinics in hospitals. Here, the practitioners take a less structured approach and endeavour to appeal to all ages.

“The children can be very anxious. The artists have various activities on offer like an opportunity to make stained glass with a variety of materials. Nurses say that the activities have a very calming, relaxing influence on the children.”

Their presence in the outpatient clinic offers Helium Arts an opportunity to meet sick children from all strata of society and far beyond the city, the CEO explains.

It makes it more accessible. We are up in the outpatient clinic in CUH two or three times a week, so a lot of children come in contact with our work.

The CEO is grateful for funding from the Arts Council, Creative Ireland, the Arts Council, and Healthy Ireland among others. The charity employs 25 professional artists, alongside 60 volunteers.

Helium Arts is always looking for volunteers. The charity is beginning to do work in smaller towns and villages and they hope to expand into the future.

See https://helium.ie/