Hayley Westenra - Philanthropy and Charity

Philanthropy and Charity

Westenra has contributed to charities around the world.

On 26 November 2003, Westenra performed "Pokarekare Ana" and "Amazing Grace" on the 75th Anniversary of the Royal Variety Performance show in the presence of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on behalf of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund.

Westenra is the second youngest UNICEF Ambassador to date, behind Selena Gomez. In 2005, Westenra visited Ghana to publicize her project, "Bikes for Ghana", and actively helped with fundraising to purchase bicycles for young girls, allowing them to get to their schools from outlying surrounding areas. When she was later interviewed about this charity work, she had this to say, "I met girls who had been given bikes and I could see how much it meant to them. We wanted to borrow one just for a photo and they wouldn't let them go; they were really reluctant".

In 2006, A new Hybrid Tea Rose was named in honour of Hayley Westenra to raise charity funds for UNICEF. The Hayley Westenra Rose won the 2010 Rose of the Year Award and also the best Hybrid Tea Rose Award. In June, She appeared at a fundraiser for UK charity Act Against Bullying.

On 8 June 2007, Westenra performed in a fundraising concert for Bikes for Ghana at the Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent. On 24 February, Westenra took part in the HemiHelp "Children helping Children" concert at the Cadogan Hall, Sloan Square London in front of 900 people, including HRH Princess Alexandra the charity's patron.

In 2008, Westenra was selected by the New Zealand Society to receive the Global Kiwis Young Achiever Award for remarkable achievement in her field of endeavour on a global scale. She has also received numerous awards for her contributions to music, both in New Zealand and elsewhere.

On 25 Jun 2008, Westenra is the ambassador for Classic FM's charity Music Makers. Hayley says of the partnership "I am thrilled to be the first official charity Ambassador for Classic FM Music Makers. I have seen first hand the power which music can have in changing people's lives, and I can't wait to help all I can." Over the next few months Hayley will be visiting some of the music therapy and education projects across the UK, which Music Makers funds... In September, she visited Ghana again on behalf of UNICEF. She was working on raising funds for one of her favourite projects in Ghana, to install playgrounds for children, with rides that harness "kid power" to drive pumps used for providing clean drinking water from wells in that country. Hundreds of thousands of children have been poisoned by contaminated drinking water in Ghana, and this project is a focus of Hayley's.

On 4 Sep 2008, Hayley Westenra became a patron of Royal New Zealand Air Force. In Oct, Forces songbird Hayley Westenra help launch the Poppy Appeal with British Armed Forces in Iraq. In Oct, Forces songbird Hayley Westenra and tenor Jonathan Ansell took to the streets to sell poppies at Waterloo Station to support the Royal British Legion. On 12 Nov, Westenra performed "River of Dreams", duet "Today Won't Come Again" with tenor Jonathan Ansell in the Royal Albert Hall for the Annual Festival of Remembrance and was broadcast by the BBC. In November, she was named "classical performer of the year" at the Variety Club's annual awards in London.

She has also been the ambassador for Save the Children in Hong Kong. More recently, she took part in a breast cancer awareness campaign in New Zealand. One of the other charities that she helps is the Women's Environmental Network. Another major charity she supports is the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy, which provides help for children who are disabled.

On 7 Sep 2009, She joined the Dame Vera Lynn Trust as a Vice-President for this Children with Cerebral Palsy charity. On 22 Oct, Forces sweethearts from the original Second World War Forces sweetheart-Dame Vera Lynn joined by one of today's Forces sweetheart Kiwi songbird Hayley Westenra in launching the Poppy Appeal with a fundraising goal of £31 million. In Dec, New forces sweetheart Hayley Westenra performed with Faryl Smith and Camilla Kerslake in a special service for British troops serving in Afghanistan from St Clements Church, London.

On 7 March 2010, Classical singing star Hayley Westenra lent her support with some other most successful female role models in FMWF's "The Breaking the Mould" conference to inspire a generation of young women to aim high in their careers. On 20 Jun, Hayley Westenra took her role as Forces Sweetheart to the Cotswold Air Show, visiting Kemble to support the work of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. On 6 Oct, Forces songbird Hayley Westenra whose uncle served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force united with British legends for charity CD "We Will Remember Them".

On 3 March 2011, Westenra led one of the national anthems "God Defend New Zealand" in a London Westminster Cathedral vigil service together with about 5,000 Kiwis fundraising charity for her hometown Christchurch, after being devastated by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011. On 18 March, Westenra performed "Amazing Grace" in the national Christchurch memorial service at Hagley Park of Christchurch in the presence of Prince William, Prime Minister John Key, Bob Parker, Dame Malvina Major, Christchurch Cathedral Choir, dignitaries, international rescue teams and tens of thousands of New Zealanders. On 27 March, Westenra was invited to read out a testimony in the Christchurch memorial service at Westminster Abbey in the presence of The Prince of Wales, The High Commissioner from New Zealand to the United Kingdom and thousands of churchgoers. On 30 March, Westenra attended The News Of The World Children's Champion Awards in London for supporting those people (voted by the public) who have done a brilliant, unsung job for children. On 2 April, Westenra as a Vice-President of the Dame Vera Lynn Trust performed for this Children with Cerebral Palsy charity at the Lancaster London Hotel.

On 29 May, Westenra performed Pie Jesu at PBS's 2011 National Memorial Day concert. On 10 June, Westenra was invited by Prime Minister David Cameron attending Downing Street Poppy Party along with injured Service personnel, bereaved Armed Forces families and veterans of Afghanistan and previous conflicts to celebrate the Legion's 90th anniversary and help raise funds for The Royal British Legion Battle Back Centre. On 20 September, Westenra sang Laurence Binyon’s For The Fallen on a service of the 90th anniversary of the Royal British Legion held at Westminster Abbey in the presence of The Princess Royal, Church of England members and family of Royal Marines. On 5 December, Westenra performed solo "Whispers In A Dream" and duet with Rolando on the Royal Variety Performance show in the presence of the Princess Royal.

To promote Paradiso with peace and love message, Westenra would be embarking the Paradiso Homecoming Tour from 17 September 2011 to 8 March 2012, and would raise charity attention to her UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador appeal and the Christchurch Earthquake Relief fund for supporting Christchurch to revive.

On 24 August 2012, Westenra staged a concert in the Gŵyl Gobaith Music Festival in Wales to support for charities Cancer Research UK, Wales Air Ambulance, CLIC Sargent and HeadtoHeart. In Christmastime 2012, Westenra was featured on the debut album "Starship Christmas Album" along with Justin Bieber, Queen, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Ronan Keating, Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, Adeaze, The Jackson Five, Tiki Taane, OneRepublic and Lucy Lawless for supporting Starship Children's Health.