CHARITIES
"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can, in all the places you can,
at all the times you can, to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can."
-- John Wesley
"Conquer the angry man by love; conquer the ill-natured man by goodness;
conquer the miser with generosity; conquer the liar with truth."
-- Gautama Buddha
"People are marvelous in their generosity if they just know the cause is there."
-- Will Rogers
"Generosity is a wonderful legacy to pass down,
not just through the generations of a family,
but also from any individual to any other.
In fact, generosity is part of what unites us all
as one family of compassionate human beings."
-- Ann (damiandreamer)
Damian has spoken in interviews about the generosity and giving nature of his mother and father. And Damian has been supportive of several charitable causes over the years, reflecting in himself a generous, giving trait which no doubt was influenced by his parents' examples. If you would like to follow Damian's own example as a charitable contributor, following are some suggestions for your consideration:
Damian and Helen attended the Josephine Hart Poetry Hour in January 2006 to benefit The Actors Centre. Damian participated as a reader in Josephine Hart Poetry Hour events in September 2005, February 2006, June 2007, March 2008, and together with Helen in May 2009, all to benefit The Actors Centre. Helen participated as a reader in Josephine Hart Poetry Hour events in October 2005 and January 2006 as well.
Damian was one of two Committee Chairs (the other was Thelma Holt) for the theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala in January 2005. Damian and Helen attended "A Chain Play" fundraising benefit for this theatre in March 2007.
American Breast Cancer Foundation
Damian attended the Second Annual GM Ten Fashion Show in March 2003 which supported the American Breast Cancer Foundation.
Damian, Helen, Manon and Gulliver took part in Barnardo's Big Toddle in May 2009 to benefit this charity which provides help and support to disadvantaged children and their families. Helen and Manon took part in Barnardo's Big Toddle in June 2008 as well.
In June 2009, Damian lent his support for Bike Week 2009, a week-long event consisting of hundreds of cycling-based events taking place across the UK. The purpose of Bike Week is to encourage people to choose bicycles as their mode of transportation more often, to remind people that cycling an activity that the whole family can enjoy, and to show people who haven't cycled in a long time that getting back on a bicycle is easy to do.
Damian took part in the opening of the Brilliant Kids Café and Arts Centre in the Kensal Rise section of London in August 2006. The Brilliant Kids Café and Arts Centre offers arts activities and classes for children and a relaxing environment for parents. It is adjacent to the Brilliant Kids shop, where families buy and sell recycled children's items such as clothing, toys and equipment. A portion of the proceeds of every sale helps support the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID).
Damian attended the Grand Classics screening of Singin' In The Rain in July 2005 to benefit this organization and its efforts regarding classic film preservation.
Damian and Helen attended the Josephine Hart Poetry Hour in January 2006 to benefit The British Library. Damian participated as a reader in Josephine Hart Poetry Hour events in September 2005, February 2006, June 2007, March 2008, and together with Helen in May 2009, all to benefit The British Library. Helen participated as a reader in Josephine Hart Poetry Hour events in October 2005 and January 2006 as well.
Damian attended the Carol Concert benefiting Cancer Research UK in December 2003, and he is participating as a reader in the Carol Concert in December 2004.
In November 2005, Damian traveled on behalf of this organization to visit regions of Bolivia lacking much-needed water and drainage systems. In February 2006, Damian took on the role of Christian Aid trade justice ambassador to help Christian Aid campaign for world trade justice. Click here to read about the Bolivian crisis and Damian's involvement in the cause. Click here to read a transcript of, and see photos from, the documentary "Bolivia For Sale" filmed during Damian's visit to the nation. Click here to watch "Bolivia For Sale" online in its entirety. (If that link fails, go to this page and click the link on that page to view the video.)
The June 2008 London premiere of Damian's film The Escapist raised funds to benefit Diabetes UK.
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
Damian participated in the Dian Fossey Gorrilla Fund's Concert For The Gorillas in November 2002.
Damian and Helen attended the White Tie & Tiara Ball in June 2007 to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a nonprofit organization which supports innovative HIV/AIDS prevention education programs and direct care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS.
Friends Of The Earth campaigns for solutions to environmental problems. In June 2007, Damian appeared in a video message in support of the Friends Of The Earth's The Big Ask campaign for climate change. Click here to view the video message.
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSHCC)
Damian participated in a celebrity cricket match at Crouch End in September 2006 to benefit the Great Ormond Street Hosiptal Children's Charity (GOSHCC). Damian and Helen attended the Formula One (F1) Party At Victoria & Albert Museum in June 2009 to benefit this organization. Also, Damian is a patron of Great Ormond Street Hospital's Theatres for Theatres appeal, a campaign launched in September 2009 to raise funds for the construction of two new operating theatres for children who require specialist neurosurgery.
Damian participated in the Eighth Annual Music Industry Soccer Six event in May 2002 to benefit Help A London Child.
Damian attended a fundraiser for Hemihelp in 2003.
Hollywood United Football Club
Damian participated in the Hollywood United v. Champions United charity football (soccer) match in November 2008 to raise money to benefit the people severely affected by the devastation of Hurricane Ike.
Homeless Health Care Los Angeles
Damian attended an event at the Falcon Restaurant benefiting Homeless Health Care Los Angeles in November 2004.
Damian participated as a reader in the Carol Concert in December 2000 to benefit Home-Start.
London Schools Cricket Association
Damian participated in a celebrity cricket match at Crouch End in September 2006 to benefit the London Schools Cricket Association.
Damian and Helen attended the Mind Mental Health Media Awards in November 2009 to benefit this organization that provides information, support and development of services promoting good mental health.
Damian and Helen are among the donors to this organization that helps raise money for fetal medical care and research.
Damian participated as a reader at a Christmas Carol Service at St. Luke's Church, London, in December 2004 to benefit Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy.
Damian attended, and Helen participated in, the Old Vic's 24 Hour Plays in November 2009 to help raise funds for the Old Vic Theatre's Old Vic New Voices program. Through its various projects, Old Vic New Voices helps support young and emerging talent develop new theatre works for production.
Damian attended the Fashion Rocks For The Prince's Trust event for this organization in October 2003. Damian and Helen attended the Berkeley Square Ball in July 2005 to benefit this organization. Damian, an Ambassador to the Prince's Trust, attended the 2008 Prince's Trust and RBS Celebrate Success Awards event in London in March 2008. Damian attended the April 2008 launch event in London for the September 2008 The End Of Summer Ball to benefit this organization. Damian is featured in Inspired, a book benefiting this organization. Damian's sister, Amanda, was involved in organizing the Prince's Trust.
Shortly after the Tsunami struck Southeast Asia in 2005, when fans of Damian Lewis were seeking a cause to support collectively on behalf of Damian, he asked if we might consider this charitable organization to receive our contributions. Read more about it here.
In September 2009, Damian, who is an Ambassador for Unite ByCycling, participated with his children Gulliver and Manon in The Prostate Cancer Charity London Ride to benefit this organization dedicated to improving the lives of the men and their families who are affected by the disease. Damian took part in this event again in September 2010.
Rainbow Trust Children's Charity
Damian and Helen attended the Shooting Stars in Desert Nights Benefit in London in June 2009 to benefit this organization which provides practical and emotional support to families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness.
Damian's mother, Charlotte, used to work at the Royal Court Theatre. A seat at the Royal Court Theatre has been dedicated to her memory. Damian and Helen also took part in A Tribute To Look Back In Anger at this theatre in May 2006 to benefit this theatre.
Damian attended the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2005 to benefit this organization.
Damian and film distributor Soda Pictures joined efforts with Samaritans for the cinematic release of Keane in the UK and Ireland in September 2006 to help benefit the Samaritans charity and help bring its services to the attention of the public.
Sargent Cancer Care For Children
Damian attended An Evening At Sanderson For Sargent Cancer Care For Children in July 2004.
Damian is a patron of this charity, which is a unique mentoring project that partners the inner-city children of Somers Town, London, with volunteer theatre professionals, providing each child who participates with quality one-on-one adult attention and an experience of personal success through the process of writing and performing plays. As part of his involvement with this charitable organization, Damian has performed in the short radio drama Beauty And Death, written by 11-year-old Promi Chowdhury, as part of Scene & Heard's Generation Next project. For this project, five London youths from ages 10-12 wrote plays which were performed by professional actors on BBC World Service Radio's programme Outlook in December 2006.
Damian took part in a multi-US-network televised fundraising event benefitting Stand Up To Cancer in September 2008.
Starlight Children's Foundation
Damian and Helen attended the London premiere of Casanova in February 2006 to benefit the Starlight Children's Foundation.
Damian was among the award presenters at this organization's National Teaching Awards ceremony in October 2003.
Damian participated as a reader at an event at Westminster Abbey, London, on April 15, 2005, in support of this cause.
TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development)
In November 2009, Damian and Helen each donated a jacket to Camden Council in support of the Council's joint campaign with TRAID to raise awareness of the urgent need to reduce the amount of textile waste sent to landfills. As part of the campaign, designers from TRAID conducted workshops to provide tips and techniques to adjust, update and revamp old clothes, providing a stylish alternative to buying new. The clothing items donated by Damian, Helen and other celebrities were restyled and turned into high street fashion pieces and accessories. TRAID's three main objectives are to protect the environment by diverting clothes and shoes from landfil, to reduce world poverty by raising funds for overseas development projects, and to educate the UK public on environmental and world poverty issues.
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
Damian participated in the Soccer Aid charity football (soccer) match in May 2006 to benefit this organization.
This page is in tribute to
Charlotte Lewis
who passed away in 2001.
"Mum was a beautiful, gorgeous woman and a very loving and giving mother."1
"She was the best mother I could have hoped for."2
"My mother had the most loving, giving and generous spirit, and my dad does as well. As parents, they were great. ... They never left us in any doubt of how much we were loved."3
"I grew up with my parents always saying, 'We love you whatever, but you'll only disappoint yourself if you don't do the best you can.' I can't shake that off. That's at the root of my work ethic."4
-- Damian Lewis
1) The Mirror, October 13, 2001. 2) Woman Magazine, April 2003. 3) Ulster TV Quick, April 6, 2002. 4) Eve Magazine, July 2004.
This site copyright Ann (damiandreamer) 2004 - present. All rights reserved.