RDF-funded dance project 'There and Here' wins Community Project of the Year at The Stage Awards 2023

‘There and Here’ was a co-created dance project featuring 21 displaced people from ten different countries, inspired by their lived experiences and individual talents. It was performed at The Place in April 2022, attended by an audience of over 300 people. A documentary about the creative process was premiered at Woolwich Works as part of Refugee Week 2022.

The project won Community Project of the Year at The Stage Awards 2023, with the panel commenting that they were particularly impressed with its transformational impact on the lives of participants, enhancing language skills, combating isolation and allowing them to be seen and heard.

RDF is so proud to have been involved in this project, and extends its warmest congratulations to Luca and his fantastic team at Protein.

RDF dance theatre project shortlisted by The Stage Awards 2023

We are thrilled that, coinciding with the five-year anniversary of Becky’s loss, RDF’s most recent project, a dance theatre workshop for refugees and asylum seekers in London led by Protein Dance, has been shortlisted by The Stage Awards 2023 in the category Community Project of the Year!

Tilka - a production by Seenaryo, a leading specialist in theatre and play-based learning with marginal communities

We are delighted to be funding Tilka, a theatre production by Seenaryo, premiered in Beirut and coming soon to a screen in London at a major arts space.

As an expert in the performing arts, Seenaryo develops imaginative and challenging performances, working with vulnerable communities in Lebanon and Jordan and in particular refugees and host communities.

About the show:

Tilka, “Those (f)”, a definite article with no English equivalent,

a cipher for all the adjectives associated with the feminine

plural. If we were to remove those adjectives, what would

remain? Would they (f) be free of those preconceptions, or

constrained by the force of grammar even in their absence?

When we decide to leave, we race towards the life we think we

want, to find ourselves buffeted by the same shocks, the same

particles constituting the feminine plural. Sometimes, one

gesture, one blink of an eye, one breath can be a longed-for

invitation. But to what? To nurture, warmth, cooperation,

tenderness? Or to something else entirely?

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane

by those who could not hear the music” – Friedrich Nietszche

Supporting the response to the Beirut blast

On 4 August 2020, Lebanon was dealt another hammer blow when a massive explosion at the port of Beirut devastated much of the city. With thanks to our supporters, RDF was able to send a £10,000 donation to the Lebanese Red Cross to support the humanitarian response.

Meeting the mediators

In March, just before lockdown, we met with women on the RDF-funded UN Women mediation programme in Lebanon. A huge thank you to UN Women for organising the meeting, and of course to the women who took the time to share their experiences with us, and describe how the project has transformed them both personally and professionally.

In the words of one participant: "[the training] was like a journey through the soul... we are now able to communicate peacefully into people's hearts". Having the chance to meet them and listen to their powerful stories meant so much to us.

Rebecca's spirit is truly being kept alive through the passion and dedication of these incredible women.

RDF announces its 2019 project - promoting women's roles in conflict prevention and resolution

RDF is delighted to announce the winner of its second call for proposals - UN Women, for its proposal “Fostering Stabilisaton and Social Cohesion in Lebanon through Women’s Engagement in Conflict Prevention and Management”.

The Foundation received over 70 proposals, which were reviewed by RDF directors and external international development experts with regional experience in a three-tier review process. A large number of the bids received were of very high quality, so selecting a project to support was a difficult decision.

The winning project aims to promote women’s roles in promoting social cohesion and conflict management through mediation. Throughout 2019, it will provide skills training and on-the-ground support to 100 women mediators, selected from diverse groups including Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian refugees, people with disabilities, and youth in South Lebanon. The aim is to create networks of women mediators at the local level in conflict-prone regions of Lebanon to ensure the inclusion of gender perspectives in conflict management to decrease tensions and promote peace, stabilisation and greater social cohesion.

UN Women will carry-out this project in collaboration with UNIFIL (which has outreach to communities in South Lebanon), UNRWA (whose mandate is to support Palestinian refugees) and the Center for Professional Mediation at the University of Saint Joseph. The project will also collaborate with women’s civil society organisations, municipalities and governorates, political parties, the national women’s machinery and the Lebanese Ministry of Interior.

The Foundation is very excited about this project, not only because this type of project - one that aims to increase women’s participation in dispute resolution forums - is relatively new in Lebanon, but because Rebecca herself was deeply concerned about the causes of conflicts between people and communities, and passionate to find ways to heal them. We feel this project reflects Rebecca’s deep commitment to peacemaking.

Into the Light - private view

Patrons the Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP and His Excellency the Ambassador of Lebanon Rami Mortada, and Dr. Ghattas Khoury, the Lebanese Minister of Culture, representing the Lebanese Prime Minister, welcomed guests to the private view of Into the Light on 13 December 2018. Nearly one year following Rebecca’s senseless loss, friends, colleagues and supporters of the Foundation gathered for an evening of inspiring artwork from artists Tom Young and Ed Jonkler, heart-warming speeches from our patrons, and uplifting seasonal music from the Peace and Prosperity Trust.

We are incredibly proud of and grateful for this event. It was a beautiful tribute to Rebecca and, in the words of the Secretary of State, the care she had for people and love that she felt.

Delighted to announce the 'Into the Light' exhibition catalogue

The exhibition will run at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery from 10-15 December 2018, with an artists’ evening taking place on Monday 10th December from 6pm.

To learn more about the exhibition and the beautiful artworks on display please find by clicking here ‘Into the Light’ catalogue.

We look forward to welcoming you next week at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery on Pall Mall.

Funds raised through the exhibition will be donated to RDF.

Into the Light - an art exhibition in aid of RDF

Almost a year on from Rebecca’s tragic death, the Foundation is hosting an exhibition displaying paintings of the places she loved and photographs of the humanitarian work she was passionate about, by artists Tom Young and Ed Jonkler. The exhibition will run at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery from 10-15 December 2018, with an artists’ evening taking place on the opening night.

The show will celebrate Rebecca’s work in Lebanon by two artists who knew Rebecca during her time there. Young’s paintings, intricately layered with glazes of watercolour and thick layers of impasto oil, are inspired by the places Rebecca fell in love with, from the Cedar forests of the Shouf Mountains to the ancient Qadisha Valley. Jonkler’s never before seen photographs, taken earlier this year, show the great variety of life in Shatila and Bourjel-Barajneh camps in Beirut. Rebecca ran numerous programs aiming to improve the living conditions of Palestinian refugees in Shatila.

Patron of the exhibition MP and Secretary of State for International Development and Minister for Women and Equalities Penny Mordaunt says:

"I am honoured to be the Patron of ‘Into the Light’, celebrating Lebanon and its enduring friendship with the United Kingdom. The exhibition will bring into the light the beauty and resilience of Lebanon. In this way, it is a fitting tribute to Rebecca, who dedicated her life to helping communities overcome great adversity. I am proud to support the Foundation, which carries on Rebecca's important work.”

Funds raised through the exhibition will be donated to RDF.

100 run for Rebecca in the 2018 Great North Run, Newcastle

On 9 September 2018, over 100 of Rebecca’s friends and family travelled to Newcastle to take part in the world’s biggest half-marathon, the SimplyHealth Great North Run, for the Foundation.

Among the runners was Government Minister Alistair Burt MP and a number of Becky's HMG colleagues who have all been left inspired by her work and share her ambition for a kinder and safer world, including one colleague who travelled all the way from Lebanon. Also running was Rebecca’s mother and cousin.

The runners raised in excess of £70,000 on the day. These funds will go towards RDF’s project with KAFA and Christian Aid to protect women in Lebanon who are victims or at risk of gender-based violence through funding activities at safe shelters such as counselling and vocational training.

The fastest of Rebecca’s runners, Jonathan Henderson, completed the race in an impressive 1:17, placing him 55th overall!

After the race, a large number of runners and supporters gathered at The Cluny pub for a well-deserved post-run snack and drink. Music was provided by Rebecca’s cousin, DJ George Hartshorn.

It was a very special occasion where those close to Rebecca were brought together some nine months after her death not only to remember her but to raise money for a cause that she was passionate about.

The Foundation is incredibly proud of and grateful to its runners, and wishes them all the best in their recovery from the gruelling race.

The Great North Run was broadcast live on BBC One on 9 September, between 9:30 and 13:30. Some of Rebecca’s runners were interviewed just after 12:00.