#bravehood: GUIDING LIGHT × WAR CHILD Emergency initiative for children

Due to all the love, kindness, and humanness of our supporters - the hundreds of people sharing their stories of bravery and community spirit - we have decided: We refuse to give up. That is why we have created the following intiative with our partner WAR CHILD:

GUIDING LIGHT X WAR CHILD Emergency Initiative

This joint initiative will support children affected by conflict by distributing money to War Child’s programmes around the world, where and when help is needed most urgently. Over the last 12 months this has included Ukraine and the recent devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Every day, War Child are on the ground, in communities and in camps offering safe spaces where they can deliver life-changing services and support to help children heal, recover and learn for the chance of a better future. They also respond to emergency crisis situations where they deliver immediate and critical care to help those who need them most, when they need them most. Since 1993, War Child has been the only specialist charity for children affected by conflict, circumstances which affect one in every six children in the world. War Child reached over 250,000 children and adults in 2022. With the help of GUIDING LIGHT it is possible to have a long-lasting impact on the most innocent in our society. 

The products in this campaign are exclusive and are only temporarily available until 31/05/2023 on this website. All items are eco-friendly produced and certified, and printed on demand with care.

All items in this collection carry a unique heart - sometimes even on their sleeves. All these hearts have different shapes to make clear that we are all different, but we are also all the same. Children - the most innocent and vulnerable in our society are getting deeply hurt and traumatized every day - in Ukraine, Syria, Turkey, Iran, among other places. This initiative allows us to help children where and when it is most needed and react quickly to current events.

All net proceeds from this collection will be a donation and will go to War Child UK to help them with their important work in communities and in camps offering safe spaces where they can deliver life-changing services and support to help children heal, recover and learn for the chance of a better future.

We wish to unite you all to protect and help children affected by conflict. As song lyrics are the language of the heart and become transferable over time, we hope that with these items you will be able to show your support. But that they also open up very personal meanings to each and every one of you in relation to hope, peace, unity, and bravery.

There is no commercial background, nor any political agenda. This is purely a matter of the heart.

This is a grassroots campaign. It all started with an initiative by Christian Stiegler and Ramona Kandinger, the founders of #bravehood and Directors of GUIDING LIGHT, who both wanted to help children in need with something pure and meaningful. They firmly believed that if they just tried reaching out to artists with utmost respect and gratitude, they would open their hearts.

As the campaign grew bigger, so did our humanitarian responsibility. We are not the ones who merely light candles to make us feel good. We are the ones who want to start a fire and really make a difference. We are fully passionate about everything we are doing.

All artists stand fully behind the cause and have been chosen by GUIDING LIGHT because of their humanness and kindness. It all began with R.E.M. - a band that always had their heart at the right place and stood up for social causes. And then more and more followed. We were so touched that many artists have even offered us some of their biggest commercial successes and fan favorites, although we did not exclusively ask for them. All we wanted was simply to have these artists involved, and they gave us so much more: their passion, energy, and commitment. There is a story for each of them, and everyone is as beautiful as the other. We also wanted to honor the late Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries with her lyrics after being in touch with her family. We sincerely hope that this way we can pay this inspirational human being our last respects.

The impressive line-up as it stands now will possibly grow during the duration of the campaign. Follow us at @supportbravehood to stay up to date with the campaign.

We wish to send our heartfelt thanks to all the artists and fans for their continuous support. Stay safe, and walk unafraid.

Coldplay
The Rolling Stones
R.E.M.
Nick Cave
Kylie Minogue
Paul Simon
Alanis Morissette
Dido
Garbage
Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries
Glen Hansard
Markéta Irglová
The Swell Season
Natalie Merchant
Wilco
Wir sind Helden