Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH) has launched its Christmas Appeal with an animated film created by adam&eveDDB. The charity is aiming to raise money this Christmas to help seriously ill children at Great Ormond Street Hospital get one step closer to home.

The heartwarming animated film shows a real-life GOSH patient called Henry, who has spent two previous Christmases at the hospital, collecting stocking donations that magically help him to grow taller to help him travel back to his home in Yorkshire. Henry receives specialist care at GOSH for a rare cardiac condition and has a tracheostomy and ventilation tube, which has been depicted in the film. 

The playful, childlike animation style alongside the moving soundtrack ‘Home to you (this Christmas) by Sigrid makes the film powerful yet uplifting. Audiences see Henry gathering more and more stockings on his journey home, each one helps him grow until eventually Henry finally reaches home where he sleeps in his own bed. He wakes up in the morning to find his mum and dad standing at his bedroom door carrying his baby brother, George, and a pile of presents. The feature closes by telling audiences: “This Christmas, your donation can bring a child one step closer to home.”

The film builds on last year’s campaign, which featured a real-life patient called Mia making her own journey home from GOSH at Christmas.

“Christmas is such a crucial time for us at GOSH Charity and we’re so grateful to our incredible donors for their generosity and support at this special time of year.” said Liz Tait, GOSH Charity’s Director of Fundraising “We’re so excited to launch our 2021 Christmas Appeal which depicts Henry’s journey home, helped along the way by magical stockings that represent donations. All the money raised from this year’s appeal will help support seriously ill children, like Henry, from across the UK, so we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved.”

GOSH Charity raises money to support GOSH’s urgent needs, including research into pioneering new treatments, cutting-edge medical equipment, support services for children and their families, and the essential rebuilding and refurbishment of the hospital. Money raised from the Christmas campaign will also help bring Christmas to the hospital for children across the UK whose treatment needs to continue over the festive season, making it a home from home.

“It’s been incredibly humbling to work with GOSH Charity on their Christmas appeal this year and to bring to life the magical story of Henry’s journey home.” said Charlotte Wolfenden, Managing Partner at adam&eveDDB, “We really hope it encourages people to support GOSH Charity this Christmas, so that other children like Henry can celebrate Christmas at home with their families’’.

This year’s film was created by directing duo Tjoff Koong and produced by Strange Beast. The appeal is also being supported by media agencies, All Response Media (ARM) and Hearts & Science to help promote the campaign. 

GOSH Charity is also partnering with Hamleys to create a giant Christmas tree installation in their Regent Street store. Launched in November, the tree is dressed in the theme of the campaign complete with a model of Henry on top of the tree, built by acclaimed model maker Andy Gent, best known for his work on Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs.