Great Ormond Street Hospital releases Christmas appeal by adam&eveDDB

The animated film aims to help raise money for seriously ill children

By Creative Salon

18 November 2021

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) has launched its Christmas appeal.

The 60-second animation, by adam&eveDDB, shows how donations to the charity help bring seriously ill children one step closer to leaving the hospital and spending Christmas at home.

In the film, a real-life GOSH patient called Henry, who has spent two previous Christmases at the hospital, collects stocking donations that help him to grow taller as he travels back to his home in Yorkshire.

Set to the music track “Home to you (this Christmas)”, donated by Norwegian pop star Sigrid, Henry gathers more stockings on his journey, which he puts on to become taller and taller, eventually towering above Big Ben.

Henry finally reaches home where he sleeps in his own bed, waking up to find his mum and dad standing at his bedroom door carrying his baby brother, George, and a pile of presents. The ad closes with the endline: “This Christmas, your donation can bring a child one step closer to home.”

The film was created by directing duo Tjoff Koong and produced by Strange Beast. The campaign launches on November 18th and will be supported by digital media and DOOH.

Liz Tait, GOSH charity’s director of fundraising, said: “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. 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.”

Charlotte Wolfenden, managing partner at adam&eveDDB said: “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. 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’’.

GOSH Charity is also partnering with Hamleys to create a giant Christmas tree installation in their Regent Street store. Launched on 14th November, the tree is dressed in the theme of the campaign and based on the ad. Completing the installation is 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.

CREDITS

Client: Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity)

Brand: Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity)

Project/Campaign name: One Step Closer to Home

Client: GOSH Charity

Chief Creative Officer: Richard Brim

Executive Creative Director/s: Ant Nelson & Mike Sutherland

Creative Director/s: Molly Wilkof & Mark Shanley

Copywriter: Molly Wilkof & Mark Shanley

Art director: Molly Wilkof & Mark Shanley

Agency producer/s: Celestine Hall, Nikki Cramphorn, Jessica Middleton

Planner/s: Stuart Williams