Celebrate a perfect day with Helena Bonham Carter

‘A Perfect Day’, North London’s most exciting community street festival in aid of Swiss Cottage Specialist School for children with Special Needs, will be opened by Helena Bonham Carter on Sunday 13 September 2009 on Avenue Road, Swiss Cottage, London NW8. Doors will open at 12.30 and Helena will kick off proceedings on stage with the support of some of the children from the school.

Breaking from her busy film schedule for the role of Bellatrix Lestrange in the new Harry Potter film, the Deathly Hallows, Helena "is thrilled" to be invited to open the festival which will see live performances in music and comedy on stage, a funfair, classic car show, hundreds of stalls and a children’s farm. A trumpet fanfare by The King's Troop will add to the celebrations and transform one of London’s busiest residential roads into a pedestrian-only zone for the day.

"I am thrilled to be able to support the fund-raising efforts of the Swiss Cottage School. These kids are fantastic and the school is a magical place for learning. Last year, the fair attracted 10,000 people, locals and tourists alike and all the indications point to another Perfect Day as families flock to this fun-packed day of live music, dance, comedy, funfair, children’s farm and stalls galore. I hope you will all come and join us in Swiss Cottage and bring your friends too. The day promises to be perfect!" says Helena Bonham Carter.

The event, which is organised by a few local Londoners who decided to take community needs into their own hands aims to help raise the £120,000 short-fall in government and council funding for 2010 and support the Institute’s initiatives in research and development. Neighbours and shop keepers from the area north of Regent’s Park from Hampstead to Marylebone and Belsize Park to Maida Vale have endorsed this ‘Perfect Day’ for the third year running.

The school, rated by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) three times as ‘outstanding’ is a leading example of best practice in special needs education and rated one of the best schools in the UK. Kay Bedford, its chief executive and inspiring head-teacher who has led the school since its inception in 1995, explains the school’s mission which is to "encourage high achievement and respect throughout the school and to equip the pupils with skills for life, self-esteem and self-confidence."

She continues "the school’s aim is to provide a safe, nurturing and fun environment in which to learn and to give pupils the tools for independence in adulthood."

The Swiss Cottage Specialist SEN School has 151 pupils aged between 2-16 years and employs almost 100 staff, plus teams of therapists, nurses and other visiting professionals. All the children attending the school have learning difficulties and additional disabilities, including communication, physical, emotional/behavioural, mental health, and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).

To make a donation visit justgiving.com/aperfectday.