Press Releases/Info

Marginalised and depressed: Britain’s older people
Gulbenkian funds new report from ippr, Older People and Wellbeing, the first in a series which examines the plight of older people in the UK. "There is a clear need to tackle pensioner poverty and health inequalities, and a need for more targeted interventions to support those most at risk of poor emotional wellbeing." 24 July 2008

From Access to Inclusion Toynbee Hall launches new research supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation into how basic bank accounts help people in their day to day life and the difficulties managing them can pose. “This provides compelling evidence of the role that proper access to banking facilities plays in promoting financial inclusion for the marginalized in our society and which gives clear recommendations for the future.” Andrew Barnett, Director. 24 July 2008

Sheila McKechnie Foundation announces Environment Award supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation. Award winner Alex Randall of the Centre for Alternative Technology is working to make political action and peaceful protest on Climate Change an activity practiced by everyone. CheatNeutral.com compares carbon offsetting to cheating on your partner and then paying someone else to be faithful. Alex is keen to explore the explosion in social networking media to grab attention for the issue. 23 July 2008

No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society
Tim Gill's RSA Lecture on the themes of No Fear will be broadcast on Teachers's TV, Thursday 17 July, 11 pm.
Tim Gill was one of the panel experts in a special BBC 4 debate, A Revolution in Childhood, Thursday 5 June, 9pm.
Watch again
The Independent, Robert Hanks, 6 June 2008

Darwin's Canopy
Tania Kovats wins Gulbenkian-funded competition to create a new permanent ceiling artwork at the Natural History Museum. Her giant Tree proposal was inspired by Darwin's iconic sketch of the branching tree to represent evolution.
BBC Online, 16 June 2008
24 Hour Museum, 16 June 2008

Artists celebrate Galapagos in Darwin’s bicentenary
Jyll Bradley and Kaffe Matthews to follow Marcus Coates to the Galapagos, 10 June 2008.

No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society
Tim Gill, the author of No Fear, is one of the panel experts in a special BBC 4 debate, A Revolution in Childhood, Thursday 5 June, 9pm.
The Independent, Robert Hanks, 6 June 2008

Darwin's Canopy 4 June - 14 September
In a project supported by the Foundation, the 10 shortlisted artists competing for the honour of creating a permanent ceiling artwork at the Natural History Museum reveal their proposals to celebrate Darwin's impact and ideas.
Nature, 2 June 2008
BBC Radio 3 Nightwaves, 3 June 2008
The Guardian, 4 June 2008

Emílio Rui Vilar, President of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and newly elected Chair of the European Foundation Centre addressed its Annual General Assembly and Conference on the theme of ‘Fostering Creativity’, in Istanbul on 31 May 2008. He called on the EFC and its members to continue to focus on the major transversal issues of our time, such as the climate change crisis, migration, poverty and global health. More ...

'Older people and neighbouring: the role of street parties in promoting community cohesion', Streets Alive, 27 May 2008
This Gulbenkian-funded briefing proposes that street parties can provide a platform for older residents to take a leading role in building socially integrated neighbourhoods.

'A route to homelessness?', Shelter report, 22 April 2008
A Gulbenkian-funded report reveals that slum renting still exists. A copy of this report can be downloaded from Shelter's website

Margaret Jull Costa's translation of Eça de Queiroz's masterpiece The Maias has won The PEN/ Book-of-the-Month Translation Prize 2007 in the US and has beenshortlisted for the Oxford Weidenfeld Translation Prize. The Maias is part of the Dedalus project with Margaret Jull Costa to translate all of Eça de Queiroz's work into English, with funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation in London and the Camões Institute and the Portuguese Book Institute in Lisbon.

Funding Story: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Andrew Barnett talks to Radhika Holmström about the current work and future direction of the UK Branch. Third Sector, 12 March 2008

Delivering A Sure Start to Later Life
Gulbenkian funds new report from Counsel and Care, 27 February 2008
Over 1.2 million older people living in isolation, Richard Gray, Sunday Telegraph, 24 February 2008

Darwin inspires artists in London and the Galapagos
Gulbenkian awards significant grants to The Natural History Museum and the Galapagos Conservation Trust. The artists shortlisted for two new programmes responding to Darwin's ideas and the islands that inspired his theory of evolution are announced today, 11 February 2008.
The Sunday Times, Richard Brooks, 10 February 2008

Gulbenkian European Commissions for the Liverpool Biennial.
Gulbenkian will support a series of new commissions by European artists over a three-year period beginning in 2008, Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture.

Gulbenkian sponsors Environment category of the Sheila McKechnie Awards 2008
"The Foundation, which aims to take an innovative, international and involving approach to its work, is interested in this most global of social concerns and currently supports projects intended to help raise environmental awareness among the public." Andrew Barnett, 23 January 2008

Human Scale Schools
Teacher Steve McCormack reports on a reform – backed by the Gulbenkian Foundation and Human Scale Education – that will create smaller, friendlier units, The Independent, 17 January 2008
Moving on up: How can the transition to 'big school' be made less overwhelming and scary for 11-year-olds?, Caroline Roberts, Education Guardian, 5 February 2008

Involving, international and adventurous...
Andrew Barnett talks to Patrick Butler, Editor of Society Guardian, about taking the helm at the UK Branch and his priorities for the future. 1 January 2008
Andrew Barnett's biography

'Fresh Start' Managed Moves keep children in education
New publication Managed Moves: A complete guide to managed moves as an alternative to permanent exclusion by Adam Abdelnoor was published on 14 December 2007.
Education Guardian, 11 December 2007
TES, 18 January 2008
Learning Curve, 28 January 2008