Draft:Helen Hamlyn

Helen Hamlyn
Lady Helen Hamlyn, CBE (née Jones; born 28 March 1934) is an English designer and philanthropist who heads the Helen Hamlyn Trust.

Life and career
Helen Roice Jones was born in London in 1934. Her father, E. William Jones, an engineer, died during World War II. She and her sister, Margaret O’Rorke, a light maker in fine porcelain, attended a progressive co-educational school, St. Christopher School, in Letchworth. Hamlyn then went on to the Royal College of Art where she graduated as a fashion designer. After graduation, she became a designer at Cresta Silks where she remained for 15 years. Her marriage to architect Paul Guest in 1957 ended in divorce. In 1970 she married Paul Hamlyn, Baron Hamlyn, a publisher and philanthropist. Together they bought in the 1980s the 13th century Chateau de Bagnols in Beaujolais. After four years of restoration, it opened in 1992 as “one of the world's most famous and exclusive hotels.” In recognition of her work she was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Artes et Lettres by the French government.

Philanthropy
In 1984, Paul Hamlyn gave to his wife as her 50th birthday present her own foundation, the Helen Hamlyn Trust. Its primary purpose is to initiate and support innovative projects that result in lasting change and improve the quality of life. It has made important contributions in the fields of medicine, arts and culture, education and welfare, heritage and conservation in India, international humanitarian affairs, and healthy ageing. Among the projects it has undertaken since then, many of which are listed in the Trust’s volume summarizing its first twenty years, are the following:


 * At Imperial College London the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery, the Hamlyn Centre in the Institute of Global Health Innovation, and in cooperation with the Royal College of Art, the Helix Centre
 * Moorfields Eye Charity
 * The Paul Hamlyn Christmas Treat at the Royal Opera House
 * The London Symphony Orchestra’s LSO-Panufnik Young Composers Scheme
 * The Setubal, Portugal Music Festival
 * The restoration and re-use of the Albarquel Fort in Setúbal, Portugal
 * The Garsington Primary Opera Company for school children at Garsington Opera.
 * ARCHiVe (Analysis and Recording of Cultural Heritage in Venice and elsewhere) in Venice, in collaboration with the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation, and the Digital Humanities Laboratory of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
 * At the British Library, support for the Touring Exhibitions Officer and the Helen Hamlyn Trust Young Creators Lab
 * The Helen Hamlyn Trust Treasury gallery in the Weston Library of the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and support for the Bodleian’s education and outreach program.
 * Acquisition of the design archive of Bernard Nevill, design director for Liberty of London.
 * The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0-11 years) at University College London, continuing the work of the Trust’s Open Futures project
 * At the British Museum, support for its outreach to younger visitors through the Museum Explorer Trails project
 * The Early Years Learning project at the Science Museum
 * Funding of the Vignelli Distinguished Professor of Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology
 * In Nagaur, India, the conservation and adaptive reuse of Ahhichatragarh Fort ; conservation workshops in the rejuvenated fort; and the creation of a craft development initiative entitled Nagori
 * Restoration and Re-use of the Reis Magos Fort in Goa, India
 * Restoration of Chittoor Kottaram, a royal residence in Kerala, India; it is now a hotel
 * The Helen Hamlyn Senior Fellows in the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University
 * Numerous initiatives at the Royal College of Art, including the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design ; its Design Age Institute focusing on design needs of an aging population; and the endowment of the Helen Hamlyn Chair of Design
 * Intergenerational programs in the Institute of Population Ageing at the University of Oxford

Honors
Lady Hamlyn’s charitable work has been recognized by many institutions in the UK and abroad. She was named a CBE in 2019. She has received honorary doctorates from Fordham University (2004), the Rochester Institute of Technology (2014) and the Royal College of Art (2016). She was designated an honorary graduate of Imperial College London (2006). Her honorary fellowships include the Royal College of Art (1994), City and Guilds of London Institute (2012), the Royal Institute of British Architects (2022), and University College London (2023). In February 2013 she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.