Helena Bonham Carter: Charity Work & Causes

“As a patron of Action Duchenne, I would like to urge as many people as possible to find out about the work of the charity and the devastating effects of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.”
- Helena Bonham Carter

An actress of great versatility, and one of the UK’s finest and most successful, Helena Bonham Carter, was denied admission to Cambridge University, not because of her grades or her test scores, but because school officials were afraid that she would leave mid-term to pursue her acting career and so upon that rejection she decided to concentrate fully on acting. Along the way she has been nominated for five Golden Globes, an Oscar, a SAG Award, two Emmys, and has worked to find lasting solutions to injustice, poverty, and suffering.

Bonham Carter and her fiancée, director Tim Burton, together support Children of Peace, a UK based, multi faith and moderate charity established to offer a fresh, non-partisan approach to conflict resolution in the Middle East, that works with both Israeli and Palestinian children to build positive relationships for a future generation, whose communities might live and work in peace, side-by-side.

She advocates Oxfam, a confederation of 14 like-minded organizations working together to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them, and Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, a U.S. charitable organization established to use the power of entertainment to deliver social benefits to some of the poorest, most marginalized and vulnerable people in the world. She also supports Save the Children, a non profit and the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of 48 million children in more than 50 countries, including the United States.

Another issue close to her heart are the devastating effects of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a condition with no known cure resulting in progressive muscle wasting, severely limiting mobility in teenage patients (boys and men) and leading to premature death in their twenties from respiratory or cardiac problems. In response, Bonham Carter became Action Duchenne's first patron, as the only national charity that exclusively funds research for a cure and promotes campaigns for better medical care for Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy.