Great Ormond Street Hospital Gets Patients Home for Christmas in Magical Animation

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) has launched a special animated film to bring to life the journey patients make from hospital to home at Christmas. 

The film features Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) patient Mia, who was specially animated alongside her sister Amy. Both sisters were treated at the hospital years apart for the same rare condition, chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Mia was just three weeks old when she was admitted to GOSH with the rare neurological condition, returning home just in time to meet her big sister on Christmas Eve.

The film opens with Mia falling asleep in her room at GOSH adorned with festive decorations. A magical force wheels her and other patients out of the hospital, to start their journey to return to their homes across the country. Featuring landmarks such as Edinburgh Castle, Angel of the North and Clevedon Pier, the film reflects that over half of seriously ill children treated at GOSH  live outside London. The film ends with a home video taken by Mia and Amy’s mum, Sam on Christmas Day 2019. This shows the girls running downstairs in matching pyjamas to open their Christmas stockings.

The film is part of GOSH Charity’s ‘Home For Christmas’ campaign. Teams at GOSH work round the clock to ensure seriously ill children have the best chance of getting home to their families for Christmas. For those children who need to stay in for treatment over the festive season, staff go above and beyond to make the hospital feel like a ‘home from home’.

The film was made in partnership with creative agency adam&eveDDB, who have previously worked on campaigns for CALM and The Cybersmile Foundation with body positive campaigner Chessie King. adam&eveDDB partnered with animator and illustrator Marlies van der Wel, and soundtrack composer Pieter de Graaf. 

Media was arranged by Hearts & Science and has largely been donated free of charge by Ocean Outdoor, JCDecaux, Verizon, News UK, The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Sam, Amy and Mia’s mum, said: “With both Mia and Amy spending time at GOSH for such a rare condition, our family knows first-hand how important it is to support GOSH Charity, particularly at Christmas. When we were in the hospital with Mia, we were blown away at the amount of effort the hospital goes to  make the wards feel as festive as possible, they are all incredible. After everything we’ve been through, Christmas is such an important time for us, and we love spending quality time together at home.”

Louise Parkes, GOSH Charity’s chief executive said: “After the year we’ve all had, spending time with loved ones feels even more important than ever, and that includes the seriously ill children who are being treated at GOSH this festive season. We’re so excited to launch our Home for Christmas campaign which will help GOSH get more children home to their families, and to help the hospital be a ‘home from home’ during these incredibly difficult times. Over the last few months, we have been truly humbled by all the amazing support we’ve received, and hope that people can come together again to spread as much Christmas cheer as possible, at a time when we need it most.”

Charlotte Wolfenden, managing partner at adam&eveDDB said: “The incredible team at GOSH work tirelessly all year round to make sure as many children as possible can celebrate Christmas at home. We’re humbled to have helped bring to life the magical story of Mia’s journey home and hope it encourages people to support GOSH Charity this Christmas.”

The money raised from this year’s Home for Christmas campaign will go towards funding vital resources and the support that GOSH needs to get seriously ill children back home as quickly as possible. That could include funding state-of-the-art medical technology, pioneering research programmes, patient and family support services and the essential refurbishment and rebuilding of the hospital. 

To find out more about GOSH Charity’s Home for Christmas campaign and how to support, please visit gosh.org/christmas.