One in five children in Ireland are living with a long-term illness or health problem.
Helium provides safe, inclusive spaces where children and young people can build confidence, connect with others, express themselves and enjoy being creative.
Give a gift today and spread the magic of making art this Christmas.
Meet Alisha
The best present Alisha ever got from Santa is a small, strong yeti called Icka.
Every night before bed, Icka does her exercises – sit-ups and punches, to keep her strong. And every few days, when Alisha has to inject a new set to connect her insulin pump to her body, she holds Icka tight.
Alisha is eleven. She’s in 6th class. She loves roast potatoes, Home Alone, and running downstairs on Christmas morning, hoping everyone will hurry up and wake so she can see what Santa brought.
Alisha has type 1 diabetes. And she carries a responsibility that would wear down most grown-ups.
Type 1 diabetes is not something a child grows out of. It is a serious, long-term autoimmune condition with no cure. Around 3,000 children in Ireland live with it, with more than 300 newly diagnosed every year. Every day, children like Alisha walk a fine tightrope, carefully balancing their blood sugar levels and taking insulin just to stay alive. If their blood sugar drops too low or climbs too high, it can quickly become dangerous, even life-threatening.
Will you donate €50 today so Helium can reach more children like Alisha, living and coping with long-term health conditions?
"Helium helps me a lot, because it gives me something to look forward to, and I can go to a place where I don't have to explain myself."
Alisha, age 11
Since her diagnosis, nothing is simple.
There has been so much for Alisha and her family to learn, so quickly. Before she can eat, she has to count the carbohydrates in her food and work out how much insulin she needs. She needed a phone to help her manage her diabetes, and everyday life now involves constant calculations, decisions and worries that no eleven-year-old should have to carry.
At school and when she’s out playing with other children, Alisha has to keep an eye on her blood sugar levels all day, with alarms alerting her when they go too high or too low. If her levels drop, she has to stop whatever she’s doing, sit down, take glucose and wait, while everyone else keeps playing.
“That’s when I can sometimes feel different from others.”
But ask Alisha what she loves, and her whole face changes. Alisha loves art. Her bedroom walls are covered in drawings and her whole bookshelf is filled with her creations, she draws an animal every single day.
For the last 18 months, Helium has helped Alisha grow her dream of becoming an illustrator. Our professional artists run creative workshops for children living with long-term health conditions, in hospitals, in the community and online.
A gift of €50 will send an art pack to a child who is unable to travel to a workshop, allowing them to make their very own magic from home.
"I have to prick myself with needles, to put in a new pump set every three days and new CGM sensor every ten days,' Alisha told us. 'I have to carry around a bag full of different bits and bobs that most children wouldn't have to do.'
'I sometimes worry that I might lose my pump or my phone."
When we asked Alisha what makes Christmas feel magical, she said it's the one night of the year when "everyone's all excited and in a good mood - and that's really special."
That is exactly what a Helium workshop gives a child like Alisha. A few hours when being creative is magical and special.
At Helium Alisha gets to try creative things she's never tried before.
But the most magical thing Helium gives Alisha isn’t the paint or paper. It’s a place where, for a few hours, she doesn’t have to be ‘the girl with diabetes’.
At Helium, Alisha gets some time where diabetes doesn’t have to be the thing she thinks about most. She gets to try creative things she’s never tried before, get carried away in making art and spend time with other children who understand what it’s like to live with a health condition. With a medic there to support her, she can feel safe, forget about the things she has to manage every day and just be herself.
€100 will help to pay for a life-saving paramedic in our workshops, allowing our children to focus on making magic through art, and giving parents peace of mind.
‘Helium helps me a lot,’ she says, ‘because it gives me something to look forward to, and I can go to a place where I don’t have to explain myself.’
This is what we call the Magic of Making. The moment a child stops counting, checking and waiting – and simply creates.
Our talented young artists
As part of ‘The Magic of Making Appeal’ talented young artists who attended a Helium workshop, led by well-known Irish artist and fashion designer Helen Steele, created stunning pieces of art – and now, for the first time, they get to share them with the world!
These unique digital prints are available exclusively as part of our Christmas appeal to help raise funds to spread the Helium magic further.
Whether you’d like a beautiful print for your wall or a colourful screensaver for your phone or computer, you can choose from A4, A3 and screensaver formats.
Perfect as a thoughtful Christmas gift or a burst of colour for your home or office, these prints are truly something special – made with creativity and heart that you won’t find anywhere else.
Helen Steele
“Art and creativity have always meant so much to me, and I’m delighted to see how much of an impact it has on the children who attend Helium workshops in hospital, in the community or online. When children are living with long-term health conditions, it is so important that they are given an outlet for self-discovery and self-expression – that is what art is – it’s literally the making of magic. I urge people to support Helium’s Making of Magic Appeal this Christmas so that Helium can continue to reach children across Ireland. For so many of these children it’s the only fun and independence they have safely outside of their home or school and it’s so important they can continue to provide their life-changing services in 2027.’’
Helen Steele, Artist & Fashion Designer.
