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Click here for The Ken-Friends Birthday Projects 1997-2009
Birthday Fundraising Project 2010
In 2010 the Ken-Friends decided to celebrate Kenneth Branagh's 50th birthday with a donation to the William and Frances Branagh Memorial Bursary fund for students from Northern Ireland, and also with a special donation to name a seat in the newly refurbished Lyric Theatre in Belfast in Kenneth's honour. As well, a circulating birthday card project was organised which resulted in a nice number of cards arriving from all over the world for Kenneth's birthday. This year's project raised $4,565 US for the William and Frances Branagh Memorial Bursary fund for students from Northern Ireland at Royal Aacademy of Dramatic Art (RADA), in addition to the $728 donated to the Lyric Theatre, for a total of $5,293 US in 2010.
Here is Kenneth Branagh's thank-you note:
"Dear Ken Friends,
I wanted to wait until today to thank you for the spectacular generosity and imagination of your birthday wishes and gifts, on the occasion of my 50th. Let me explain.
Today sees the announcement of part of the new season at the rebuilt Lyric Theatre, Belfast. It's a wonderful new building that is now specifically supported by the Ken Friends via the seat which you have sponsored and named in my honour. I am thrilled and made proud by both ends of this connection. Thank you so much.
And it is only today therefore that I am allowed to share some related and exciting news for me, and news that I hope will be pleasing to you all, in considering not only the generosity of your Belfast gift, but the aptness.
This Autumn I will perform in a production on the stage of the Lyric theatre.
It's a comedy, The Painkiller.
It has been adapted from Francis Veber's French original by my great friend and collaborator, the brilliant Sean Foley, who will also Direct. I will be joined in the cast by the wonderful Welsh actor, Rob Brydon.
On a personal note, the play will also mark 30 years for me as a professional actor, having started in October 1981, in Belfast, in the first of Grahame Reid's 'Billy' plays.
So all in all, this birthday gift was a triumph of timing, and a marvellous, much appreciated gesture of support to the new Lyric.
In addition, let me relate a family story. At Christmas my brother and sister, who were proudly aware of the Bursary fund at RADA, were at my house, and both stared in wonder at the small plaque which sat proudly above the fireplace. Not only did they share my astonishment and pride at the amount gathered this year at such a time of hardship for so many, but at the cumulative amount raised over the life of the fund. We agreed that our parents would be humbled, as we are, by what this represents. They would also continue to be inspired by what the Ken Friends have contributed in practical, meaningful terms to the lives of young actors so often struggling to make ends meet. It is a GREAT thing that you do in our names, and to paraphrase James Cagney's George M Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy, ( a character and story I took to Belfast in one of my theatrical adventures as some of you will know), "My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my brother thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you".
And finally may I say how touched I was by all those cards! They made me feel very very lucky, and apart from messages of such kindness and appreciation, many contained words of wisdom that I will treasure for ever.
Thank you my friends for making a special birthday even more special. I hope to thank some of you personally if you make it to Belfast, and for those who don't, we plan to make three more Wallander films this year which I hope you will enjoy. I also hope you will be entertained by our film of Thor.
Lastly, let me send to all of you a wish for a 2011 that brings the greatest of health and happiness to you all, and the time to enjoy both.
With sincere gratitude,
your friend,
Ken Branagh."
Since 1998 the Ken-Friends have have donated a grand total of $65,016 to Kenneth
Branagh's charities/organizations. Not a bad accomplishment for our small "band of brothers".
The Ken-Friends Birthday Projects 1997-2006
In 1997 the Ken-Friends mailing list sent Kenneth Branagh an album made up of postcards members had sent from their locations all over the world. This was the genesis for an expanded project the following year which saw the production of a Ken-Friends t-shirt and an associated fundraising effort. The money raised was donated to the Ulster Association of Youth Drama, an an organisation Kenneth has supported over a number of years, and the project coordinator, Jude Tessel, had the privilege of giving Kenneth his present in person. Read all about it and see the photos.
In 1999 a new t-shirt, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the release of Henry V, was designed and produced, culminating in a donation of $4,554 US. Get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2000 a pin, conceived in part to allow Ken-Friends who had never physically met to recognise each other (an alternative to "I'll be standing in front of the main doors holding a copy of Beginning"), was designed and produced and a donation of $6,050 US was raised. Get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here. The total donated to UAYD to date is $17,849 US and the donation to RADA to date is $2,518 US, making a grand total of $20,367 US since 1998.
In 2001 the Ken-Friends designed and produced a keychain ("t'is in my memory locked") which, along with a series of auctions of Branagh-related items held within the Ken-Friends .mailing list. helped to raise funds for our chosen charity. The amount raised this year was $4,601 US, which constituted a donation to UAYD of £3,197.77. Get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2002 Kenneth Branagh's long-awaited return to the stage and the good times of the Ken-Friends Big Day Out in Sheffield in March 2002 were captured in the mug produced for the birthday fundraiser. Through this and other fundraising events a total of $7,701 US was raised and donated to UAYD, RADA and the Over the Wall Gang. Read details here.
In 2003 the Ken-Friends combined their annual birthday fundraising effort with a nod to The Play What I Wrote, with a handsome themed t-shirt. The generosity of participants allowed the Ken-Friends to send $3,520 US or £2,086 GBP to Ulster Association of Youth Drama for the 2004 Ken-Friends bursaries. Get details, see the shirt and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2004 the fifteenth anniversary of the release of Kenneth Branagh's stunning film Henry V was celebrated by the Ken-Friends in their annual birthday fundraising effort with a commemorative mug. The generosity of participants allowed the Ken-Friends to send $4,602 US or £2,480 GBP to Ulster Association of Youth Drama for the 2005 Ken-Friends bursaries. See the mug, get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2005 the Ken-Friends marked the tenth anniversary of the release of the delightful Kenneth Branagh film In the Bleak Midwinter/A Midwinter's Tale by producing a "Midwinter" ornament for their annual birthday fundraising effort. The generosity of participants allowed the Ken-Friends to send $3,209 US or £1,826 GBP to the Ulster Association of Youth Drama for the 2006 Ken-Friends bursaries. See the ornament, get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2006 the Ken-Friends fundraising activity paid hommage to the 10th anniversary of the release of Kenneth Branagh's film Hamlet. The design and production of a bookmark allowed us to send $3,275 US to Project Shakespeare, to take a group of Catholic and Protestant children from Northern Ireland to Stratford. See the bookmark, get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2007 the Ken-Friends fundraising activity marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Renaissance Theatre Company. The design and production of a tote bag allowed us to send $3,200 US to Project Shakespeare for their annual student activities. See the tote bag, get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2008 the Ken-Friends marked Kenneth Branagh's 48th birthday with a bound collection of their favourite poems and a donation of $4,500 to the William and Frances Branagh Memorial Bursary fund for students from Northern Ireland. Get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
In 2009 the Ken-Friends returned to the always popular t-shirt for their annual fundraising project, this time to celebrate Kenneth Branagh's 49th birthday, raising a total of $4,748. See the t-shirt, get details and read Kenneth's thank-you here.
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