Spotlight on Coram: Secret Garden and Children’s Charity
‘The Nomad is delighted to welcome Ruvani de Silva from Coram, whose secret garden hidden in the heart of Bloomsbury is a real oasis on our pop-up cinematic tour of London. But there’s a lot more to discover about this little gem…
Coram is the UK’s first children’s charity. Founded in 1739 by philanthropist Thomas Coram, we now help over 1 million children every year through adoption, fostering, creative therapies, life education, advocacy and legal assistance.
Opening our beautiful Secret Garden to our friends at The Nomad Cinema has been a highlight of our summers since 2013. This year, we’re gearing up for 80s classics The Lost Boys and The Goonies on August 4th and 11th.
We’re no strangers to hosting cultural events; in fact Coram’s relationship with the arts goes right back to our very beginning. Our earliest supporters included George Frideric Handel and William Hogarth, the artistic trailblazers of their time. Handel’s fundraising concerts at the original Foundling Hospital were the equivalent of sell-out gigs, with Georgian fashionistas required to remove the hoops from their skirts to cram more people into the building!
Christmas at the Foundling hospital. Image credit: Coram
Steven Spielberg may be a long way from The Messiah, but our strong links to the arts have proven crucial in our work supporting society’s vulnerable children from the 1700s to the present day, enabling us to raise critical funds, talk to people about the work we do and offer our supporters some fantastic entertainment.
We’re delighted that this year, visitors to the Nomad screenings will also have the opportunity to experience our ‘enlivened’ Thomas Coram statue. Our newest artistic collaboration, which is part of Sing London’s Talking Statues project, uses technology to bring history to life via your phone.
Using the Aztec code or web link, you can hear celebrated actor and Coram supporter, Simon Callow, telling our rich history in the voice of Thomas Coram.
So, deck chairs and fairy lights at the ready, all we need now is for the sun to shine! We’re looking forward to welcoming you to the Coram campus, and we hope you’ll learn a little about Coram on your visit.
More info & tickets for our Coram Secret Garden events HERE
Thomas Coram Talking Statue. Image credit: Coram