Christian Background

Helen attended St Edwards Church of England, Romford from a toddler until she was 12.  Whilst there she learnt a great deal about the love of Christ under the pastoral care of Nicholas and Ruth Maddox.  Helen was drawn away from the church at this point until she reached 15 and was invited to the Ilford Elim church where she found a vibrant, multicultural fellowship.  This is where Helen would say she started her relationship with Jesus, she was baptised by Pastor Kwame Blankson and Barry Killock in January 1995.  Helen was part of the worship team at the Ilford Elim for some time and founded ‘Tehillah’ a praise and worship choir that had the honour of visiting many churches from 1994 – 1997.  In 1994 Helen visited Pakistan on a missionary visit along with 13 other members of the Ilford Elim church under the leadership of Marc Marks.  It was here that Helen met her husband, Shakeel Yousaf who was also a musician, playing tabla.  Upon returning to England after marriage in 1996 Helen and Shakeel moved to Romford Elim.  Helen has a specific desire to see children released in meaningful worship and has been working on various projects this year to create avenues where children can write and sing their own worship songs.

Professional Background

Helen was trained in the performing arts and began working as a composer/cellist/actress in ‘Theatre in Education’ companies and various other theatrical productions.  In 1996 Helen suffered from a variety of illnesses related to Lupus and the blood disorder ITP, this meant that her joints became difficult to move and therefore playing the cello was impossible.  The experiences she went through at this time were challenging and Helen would say this was the most difficult yet inspiring time of her life thus far.  Helen came out of the performing arts industry and concentrated on administrative roles which enabled her to manage her symptoms more effectively and be at home more regularly.  Helen has always supported various artists in their recording projects as a backing vocalist but never thought this would be an area she should branch into herself…. until 2003 when the birth of her first daughter, Abigail brought with it a surge of creativity which produced the lyrics for much of the album ‘Child of mine’.  Around the same time Helen was asked to teach vocal programmes at Barking College which brought to her disposal a wonderful network of friends involved in the music industry.  Helen left teaching in 2007 following the birth of her 2nd daughter, Olivia and with a loving nudge from Father God and a huge amount of encouragement from Shakeel, colleagues and friends Helen decided to run with the material God had given her in 2003 and created the album ‘Child of mine’.