Rhys Meyers takes charity lead role

HOLLYWOOD heart-throb Jonathan Rhys Meyers took on a new role yesterday — as ambassador for the Hope Foundation.

The Tudors star, who picked up an Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA) on Sunday for his role in the bodice-ripping period drama, said he will use his celebrity to raise the profile of the Irish charity, which works with the street children of Kolkata in India.

Fresh from the post-IFTA’s bash, he told star-struck students in Dublin that he plans to visit Kolkata later in the year to witness first-hand the foundation’s work and the appalling conditions in which the city’s estimated 200,000 street children live.

“I’m deeply honoured to become an ambassador for the Hope Foundation,” he said.

“Hope, an initiative started in my native Cork over eight years ago, has provided shelter, medical care and support to some of the world’s poorest and most mistreated children. If I can use my name and celebrity to advance awareness of their great work in some small way, then I am delighted to be able to do so,” he said.

Hope director Maureen Forrest said she was delighted Rhys Meyers had agreed to be its ambassador.

“We look forward to forging a strong relationship with him,” she said.

Hope supports more than 57 projects, including fives homes, a HIV/AIDS hospice and a drug rehabilitation centre, and a hospital for the street children.

www.hopefoundation.ie