b'For children whose lives are affected and oftenlimited by chronic or serious illness, spendingtimeinhospitalcanbecomeanormalpartofeverydaylife.Theyareunabletorunoutthedoorafterhomeworkandjointheirfriendsfornewadventures.Theyhavetospendtimealoneinhospital,awayfromtheroutinesoffamilylife.Theyareconfinedtotheirbedsforfearof further infection or injury. Illness can take over the lives of In2009,Helium Artschildrenhospitalvisitsandmedicaltreatmentbecomethenormandhospitalstaffsometimesfilltheroleoffriendsandfamily.HeliumArtsopensacreativeandimaginativenewworldforthesechildren was established by Helene Hugel, a hospital play specialist aworldwheretheycanexperiencenolimits. and practicing childrens theater maker who wanted to bring her creative work to children whose lives were affected byillness. It has developed into a national, award-winning arts organization based on the belief that sick children deservechild-friendlymedicalcarewhichhonourstheirrighttoremainachildnomatterwhattheirdiagnosis.Helium Arts works with professional artists from a myriad of artsdisciplinessuchaschildrenssensorytheater,music,storytelling,andmulti-mediaandfilmtodeliverfourprograms in collaboration with healthcare staff. Since 2009, over 4,500 children and their families across 10 counties have benefitted from Heliums work.Their programs have benefitted from The Ireland Funds support.The Artists in Residence in Hospitals Program is a sustained engagement whereby an artist works to support a child in hospital. The Community Health Program devel-ops creative projects outside of the hospital environment, such as Heliums Summer Film CampThe Two Suitcases Projectthat provide a sense of community for children and teenagers who experience isolation due to chronic illness.Outcomesincludehappier,moreconfident,communi-cable, and medically compliant young people in hospital. As one physiotherapist said of the program, A happy child is an engaged child, and an engaged child is a child that you are going to have good work and progress with.In2014,Heliumsworkimpactedonnearly400children and young people and 200 of their parents, while indirectlybenefiting400staffthrough16partnerships. Helium recognizes the great value of gathering an evidence base behindits work andare delightedto announce thatTrinity College Dublin and NUIG Galway are both currentresearch partners. BNP Paribas bank has renewed a three- yearcommitmenttosupportingHeliumshospitalprogram, a multi-annual funding partnership that is vital forsecuring sustainability. Helium in partnership with CREATE are also working to advocate for integration of the arts in the New Childrens Hospital build which will act as a flagshipproject and national model of care. In 2014, they were winners of a Business to Arts Award for Best Use of Creativity in theCommunity.I was delighted that my daughter had such a positive distraction after lying in bed for two days. It was interactive, which was fantastic, otherwise she just had TV as she was too ill to read. Many thanks, it was an unexpected pleasure. theparentofachildparticipatingintheHeliumprogramconnect2015 | 33'