Naked Heart News

Lutz & Patmos raise $ 5000 for Naked Heart

2010-01-21T02:19:00.001-08:00

Lutz & Patmos called on Natalia Vodianova to be their guest designer in 2009, to collaborate on the creation of a simple, yet luxury dress. The dress itself is very clever, as it is based on a “two-in-one principle” with a large collar that doubles as a strapless bodice when pulled down. Fifty dollars from the sale of each dress have gone to the Naked Heart Foundation. As Natalia says: “It’s a lot of money, even if we only sell 100.” We are very glad to say that the sale of a hundred dresses has raised $5000, which will go towards our 2010 building program.

Our last 2009 opening in Leningrad Region (01.12.09)

2010-01-08T02:20:00.001-08:00

We opened our last play park of 2009 in the town of Kingisepp on 29th November. With a population of just over 50,000, Kingisepp is one of the smaller towns we have built it – but the turnout at the play park opening was no less impressive than usual. It was an autumnal day and the park was full of energy with hundreds of children and their parents present until late into the evening. The red ribbon was cut by the town's mayor Viktor Geshele and Asya Zalogina, our Russian Executive Director.

Natalia opens our Beslan play park (02.11.09)

2010-01-08T02:19:00.001-08:00

Five years after the tragic events of Beslan in September 2004, Naked Heart has finally opened a play park in Beslan. This was a very moving and important day for the Naked Heart team. We visited the chidlren's graves and a monument marking those who were killed in this «City of Angels», as well as School No. 1, where the tragic incident occurred. The weather meant we were unable to spend much time in the play park itself, and so entertainment and festivities were moved to a nearby hall, where talented young local singers and dancers were joined by Natalia on stage. It was a day of both incredible sadness and incredible joy. We were left with the overriding sense that the Naked Heart play park will only strengthen the city's determination to help their children to live full and playful childhoods, despite the huge tragedy they have experienced.

Ivanovo gets its first Naked Heart play park (30.10.09)

2010-01-08T02:18:00.001-08:00

Our fifth play park of 2009 opened in Ivanovo on 27th October. The celebration was held at the end of the school day, so all local children could attend. Hosted by Ivanovo Region's Governor Mikhail Men, Duma Deputy Tatiana Yakovleva and Ivanovo's Mayor Alexander Fomin, it was a big turn-out for the city, with hundreds of children and their parents.

A Naked Heart play park beside Lake Baikal (11.10.09)

2010-01-08T02:16:00.000-08:00

From Ulan-Ude, the Naked Heart team and trustees traveled to Biisk in Altai Republic to join over three thousand children and parents for a memorable play park opening. Natalia once again gave a speech to the crowd, this time from the ship itself, and spent hours giving out autographs to the children. Children played with great enthusiasm on all the new equipment and cameraman Darren Bull interviewed parents and filmed the children at play. We would like to thank the Rotary Club of Biisk, who co-funded the play park and organised the opening. It was a memorable day!

A Naked Heart play park beside Lake Baikal (10.10.09)

2010-01-08T02:13:00.000-08:00

Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, became the latest point on the Naked Heart map of play parks, and the welcome we received there was incredible. We were greeted by two thousand children and parents on a very sunny Indian Summer day. Natalia cut the red ribbon, spoke to the crowd from the stage and spent over three hours signing autographs. Children clambered all over the ship and smaller play areas, and skateboarders showed off their skills all afternoon. It was a special opening for us, attended not only by Natalia, but by the whole Naked Heart team, and three of the Naked Heart's international trustees: our new trustee Lucy Yeomans, Editor of Harper's Bazaar UK; Justin Portman; and Jamey Hargreaves. After the opening, we were entertained by the local government who hosted a special dinner for Natalia and thanked her for making the new play park possible. We were also joined by CNN cameraman Darren Bull and independent producer Andrea Tennant, who are making a short film about the Natalia and the foundation's work.

Our first parks of 2009 open in Pokachi and Kondopoga (10.09.09)

2010-01-08T02:07:00.000-08:00

Pokachi

Kondopoga

Naked Heart marked the early September first-day-of-school celebrations with new play parks for Pokachi in Khanti Mansy Autonomous Okrug and Kondopoga in Karelia, northern Russia. Natalia and Justin attended the opening ceremonies at both parks, cut the red ribbons and met local children, parents and journalists. In Kondopoga, the new park is bordered by a large residential area, three kindergartens and two schools, meaning the play park will be used by hundreds of children on a daily basis.

Louis Vuitton Makes €80,000 Donation

2009-12-16T03:42:00.000-08:00

Louis Vuitton opened its new store in Ekaterinburg together with Natalia Vodianova and The Naked Heart Foundation on the 23rd of April. This event marked the continuation of our partnership with Louis Vuitton. During the press conference Natalia announced that Louis Vuitton has donated 80,000 euros towards the construction of a play park in Ekaterinburg in 2010.

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Caramel London launches t-shirt for Naked Heart

2009-12-08T03:07:00.000-08:00

We are hugely grateful to UK-based Children's clothes brand Caramel Baby & Child, who celebrated its 10th anniversary by creating a heart t-shirt to raise money for the NHF. The t-shirt was launched at a party in the Notting Hill store on 2nd July, attended by Natalia and loyal customers. The t-shirts are available in all Caramel's stores and in various international department stores, as well as on Caramel's website: www.caramel-shop.co.uk. All profits go to the Naked Heart Foundation.

2009 Playgrounds

2009-11-03T02:23:00.000-08:00

We built nine playgrounds over the summer and autumn, in the following towns: Izhevsk, Nizhnii Novgorod, Fryazino, Troitsk, Arzamas, Moscoa, Chelyabinsk and Novokuibishevsk.

30.08.09
Teachers from the special needs residential school in Arzamas have written to tell us that, thanks to the Naked Heart playground, all children who were having problems learning to count have learnt to count using the large numbers on the small house in their new playground.

20.10.09
The Children's Oncology Centre in Nizhny Novgorod has opened its new playground, meaning that all its young patients can play in the fresh air.

30.10.09
The Chelyabinsk children's fund «Warm Home» opened a Naked Heart playground on the grounds of the Children's Village, where orphans are housed with families so that they can get used to family life.

05.11.09
In November the Centre for Handicapped Children in Novokuibishevsk opened a Naked Heart playground for its children. They worked with play specialists at the centre to select the appropriate equipment for the playround. The facility is intended to help therapists and doctors in their work with the children.

07.11.09
An orphanage in Fryazino was the final beneficiary of a Naked Heart playground this year .

Our final play park of 2008 is open in Novokuibishevsk!

2008-12-18T04:12:00.000-08:00

Our last play park opening of 2008 took place in Novokuibishevsk (Samara region) on December 17th, crowning an incredibly active year in which the Naked Heart Foundation constructed 17 play parks and playground.

A large group of schoolchildren gathered at the play park as the red ribbon was cut by the Mayor of the city and the NHF Executive Director in Russia, Asya Zalogina. During the course of the day, more and more children and parents joined in the festivities. The play park is now under the management of the local Dubki Park administration.

A warming winter play park opening for Kimri

2008-11-19T04:17:00.000-08:00

During their latest trip to Russia, Natalia Vodianova and Justin Portman attended the opening of the new Naked Heart play park in Kimri. On a very cold, snowy day, the atmosphere was extremely cheerful. Natalia and Justin spent over an hour signing autographs, taking pictures and talking to happy children and parents. Together with the Mayor of Kimri, Maxim Litvinov, Natalia cut the ribbon and declared the play park open.

The ceremony was accompanied by local musicians and actors, who did everything to make children and guests warm in such cold weather! The opening was also attended by the head of the Legislative Assembly of Tver Region, Andrei Epishin. Kimri’s NHF play park is located on the territory of the city park and has become one of the city’s biggest attractions.

A Naked Heart play park for Penza!

2008-11-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

Our tenth play park was opened on the 17th November on the territory of Olympic Park in Penza. Although the opening was held on a working day, many children, parents and grandparents gathered to watch the opening ceremony and the cutting of the red ribbon. The opening was attended by the NHF’s Executive Director in Russia, Asya Zalogina.

Two new Naked Heart play parks for Siberia

2008-09-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

Natalia Vodianova, Justin Portman and our donor and newly appointed UK trustee, Jamey Hargreaves, travelled to Siberia to open two play parks in Siberia in September. The first stop was made in Novosibirsk, the third largest city in Russia, to open a play park on a newly renovated recreation area in Kirov district. The Novosibirsk Foundation "Obshchee delo" was a co-sponsor of the new NHF play park, donating most of its annual budget towards the costs.

The opening ceremony attracted hundreds of children, parents and grandparents – more than any other opening so far in 2008. The new play area was named after Jamey Hargreaves, whose donation at this year’s Love Ball covered all of the NHF’s costs of building this play park.

A few days later, Natalia and Justin and several NHF friends opened another play park in Raduzhny. This play park was very generously co-financed by the local administration, who covered the costs of delivering the play park equipment, its installation, ground preparation, the fence and security hut. The play park in Raduzhny is positioned in a beautiful location on the river bank. The opening was attended by many children and their families.

A play park in Saransk on the first day of school

2008-09-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

The 1st of September – the Day of Knowledge in Russia and the first day of school for children all over the country – was celebrated in Saransk together with Natalia Vodianova and Justin Portman at the new Naked Heart Foundation play park. During the opening ceremony Natalia congratulated the young visitors and reminded everyone that unfortunately this day is now also a day of sadness and commemoration for the victims of the Beslan tragedy, which provided the initial motivation for Natalia to start her charity to help Russian children.

Summer play park openings for Omsk and Aleksandrov-Gai

2008-08-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

Two full-scale Naked Heart play parks have been opened in August – one in Omsk, Siberia and one in Aleksandrov-Gai, Saratov Region in southern Russia. Both openings were attended by our Executive Director for Russia, Asya Zalogina. In Alexandrov-Gai, the opening festivities took place on the town’s anniversary day. Many officials attended the event, including the Governor of Saratov Region, who cut the red ribbon and thanked the founders of the Naked Heart Foundation and all its donors for their contribution to the lives of the children of that area. The new NHF play park is now a place of recreation not only for the children of Aleksandrov-Gai, but also for children from nearby villages.

Natalia and Justin open our first play park of the year in Petrozavodsk

2008-07-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

The first Naked Heart play park of 2008 was opened in Petrozavodsk, Karelia on the 1st July. A sunny day and the visit of Natalia Vodianova and Justin Portman gathered hundreds of people to the opening ceremony. The Mayor of the city, Viktor Maslyakov and Natalia cut the ribbon.

The new play park has become a big attraction for the childen of the city and also a special place for teenaged rollerbladers and skateboarders, who now hold street championships on its territory.

Louis Vuitton raises €80,000 for the NHF at their Moscow store re-opening

2008-04-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Louis Vuitton and Natalia Vodianova raised €80,000 for the NHF through a raffle and a limited edition line of teddy bears and trainers at the re-opening of Louis Vuitton’s Moscow store. LEGO provided exciting activities for the younger children, Guerlain entertained the girls and the Spivakov Foundation arranged a special performance. Kopenhagen Fur worked with Louis Vuitton to create the limited edition teddy bears, while the winner of the raffle received a LEGO set especially created to fit into the Louis Vuitton handbag.

Russian Father Christmas opens Naked Heart play park in Zavolzhye

2007-12-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

To mark the New Year festivities, Russian Father Frost joined a big crowd of kids to celebrate the opening of Zavolzhye's new Naked Heart play park. Asya Zalogina, representative of the Foundation and Mr. Andrei Lapshin, Mayor of Zavolzhye, conducted the opening ceremony. The play park, which cost $213,000 to build, has an area of 1 716 m2 and is accessible to all children. In the spirit of the space theme of the Gagarin area where the play park is located, the equipment was designed in the form of a space platform with huge tubes, slides and climbing frames. It is surrounded by smaller spaceships with slides and sandboxes, swings and a pyramid. The park is fenced and guarded twenty-four hours a day.

Orphans meet Madonna at Moscow concert

2007-09-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

Children from the social rehabilitation center “Otradnoe” and Moscow orphanage # 8 visited Madonna’s Confessions concert in Moscow together with Natalia Vodianova, Justin Portman and Steven Klein. During their visit, the children got a chance to meet Madonna and enjoy the wonderful show. The excited children had a delicious lunch and then joined the rest of the audience to get ready for the show. Just before the performance the children got the amazing opportunity to meet Madonna. Then the show that managed to bring 50 000 fans together started. Children were absolutely fascinated by the beautiful performance and started singing along and dancing non stop. The atmosphere was full of energy and happiness. After the concert the children were brought back to the orphanages. “Most of the children in our centre come from dysfunctional families. Yesterday’s event was one of the brightest moments in their lives. This wonderful experience will stay in their memories forever,” said the director of the orphanage.

Naked Heart Foundation opens a playground for exceptionally gifted orphans

2007-08-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Naked Heart Foundation returned to Nizhny Novgorod to open our section play facilities there – at the city’s orphanage number seven, which is an orphanage specifically for exceptionally talented children. On a beautiful summer’s day, children received presents and sweets and enjoyed the games and entertainments provided for the event. The idea of building a playground came to Natalia, when she first visited the orphanage together with Justin Portman and the Russian band "Uma2rman". Natalia was surprised to see that this very special orphanage did not a have any playground equipment. With participation of the Russian investment company "Troika Dialog", NHF built a playground with a slide complex, sport section and rubber surfacing.

Oleg Tinkov and Natalia Vodianova open a Naked Heart play park in Leninsk-Kuznetskii

2007-07-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

Businessman Oleg Tinkov joined Natalia Vodianova in opening a new play park in Leninsk-Kuznetskii in Siberia on 18th July. Oleg Tinkov donated $120,000 towards the play park, which cost the Foundation £316,000 to build. The play park has an area of 7,500 square metres and has been designed so that it is accessible to children of all ages and abilities. At the opening, local children danced and sang. The red ribbon was cut and the play park was immediately filled with hundreds of children, including local junior football teams and roller-blading fanatics.

Our third Naked Heart play park is open in Megion!

2007-07-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

The third Naked Heart play park was opened on 20th July by Natalia Vodianova and the Mayor of Megion. The project, which cost $250,000 to complete, was initiated and co-funded by the Megion municipal administration. The play park is accessible to children up to the age of twelve. It has a large climbing ship, swings, pyramids and play complexes for younger children and children with disabilities. In addition to a fence and security guard, play ground has twenty-four hour video monitoring, provided and maintained by the local administration.

Russian Rhapsody Gala Dinner raises close to £500,000 for the NHF

2007-04-23T06:58:00.000-07:00

Natalia Vodianova hosted the Russian Rhapsody Gala Dinner at Old Billingsgate on the banks of the river Thames in London to benefit the Naked Heart Foundation. Natalia invited eight haute couture designers to create a toy each for the auction, which was hosted by Christie’s. The rocking horse by Jean-Paul Gaultier went for a record total of £140,000. Inspired by the work of the Naked Heart Foundation, Russian Rhapsody took the form of a giant playground for the 850 guests, including Natalia Vodianova, Justin Portman, Lady Gabriella Windsor, Jemima Khan, Nat Rothschild, Camilla Al Fayed, Mariacarla Boscono, Riccardo Tisci, Astrid Munoz, Dan MacMillan, Dasha Zhukova, Aliona Doletskaya, Karla Otto and Oleg Tinkov.

The Toys:

Valentino Rocking Horse
A Rocking Horse with a Valentino red, black and diamond studded saddle. Plumage in black and white feathers. Signed “Valentino 2007”.
Jean-Paul Gaultier Rocking Horse
A white wooden horse with ruby eyes dressed in navy blue and white cotton marine style, with a woollen Scottish kilt. White leather saddle ‘matelasse’ with silver studs. Neck dressed in folded organza.
Chanel Bearbrick Doll by Karl Lagerfeld
Japanese Bearbrick piece dressed in Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld. Coco Chanel outfit, with camellia in the hair, trademark pearl necklace and sunglasses. This is one of a 2000 pieces limited edition of dolls that will never be sold by Chanel. Doll signed by Karl Lagerfeld.
Givenchy Swing by Riccardo Tisci
A fairy-tale inspired swing with a unicorn's head embellished with a twisted cord and black crystal by Swarovski. Signed R.T. for Riccardo Tisci.
Giorgio Armani's Musical Box
Antique musical box with miniature revolving doll mechanism, customized by Giorgio Armani with Couture dress and Swarovski crystals unique to Armani. Signed by Giorgio Armani underneath.
Doll House by Christian Lacroix
A pop-up page out of a giant magic book in the shape of a doll’s house. Baroque interior with chandeliers. Signed by both Christian Lacroix and producer Jean-Hugues de Chatillon.
Puppet Theater by John Galliano
Puppet Theater inspired by the Greek myth of Cassandra and Ajax. Reflecting the prophesying powers of Cassandra, the designers of today predict the future of fashion, influencing lifestyle trends for all. Puppet dolls by Adrien Beau. Signed John Galliano 2007.
Russian Dolls by Stefano Pilati for Yves Saint Laurent
13 wooden Russian dolls decorated with a mixture of natural wood and delicate YSL patterns including hearts and dots and lined with gold. Each doll is signed underneath by Stefano Pilati.

An Internet Connection for a Moscow Orphanage

2007-02-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Naked Heart Foundation has provided a computer with Internet connection at the Orphanage and School for Physically Handicapped Children No. 31 in Moscow. The computer is set up on a computer table (created by Edumasters) with a seat and connected to wireless Internet. These facilities will provide orphans at the school with an opportunity to learn computer and Internet skills, and will give them access to educational programs through the Internet and opportunities to interact with Russian and international friends.