Category: Philanthropy

The Big Give is Here: Let’s Give to Cure EB This Holiday Season!

Today is Giving Tuesday! It is a a global day of giving we celebrate on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and kick off the charitable season! So it’s time to be thankful for all the good stuff in our lives and focus on our holiday giving.

Most of you know Damian Lewis is a proud patron of Cure EB.

Sohana Collins is a young woman who was born with Recessive Dystropic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB) which means she lacks the protein that holds her skin together. Kids with RDEB have extremely fragile skin that they are sometimes called “butterfly children.” Lots of activities we take for granted as easy routines in our daily lives are a struggle for them. Can you imagine a day where your dressing up takes up to two hours and eating and drinking cause blisters in your mouth and throat? These kids have to deal with this kind of pain every single day. Besides, they are under extra risk to develop skin cancer later in life and their life expectancy is not very long. Sohana’s parents Sharmila and James Collins founded Cure EB (Formerly Sohana Research Fund) to raise awareness as well as funds for research to ultimately have a cure for this terrible skin condition.

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Do it Like Damian Lewis: HELP Raise Awareness for EB on EB Awareness Week!

It’s EB Awareness Week – a week to raise awareness about this terrible skin condition and the impact they have on patients’ lives. The primary target of the campaign is the general public; however, it is very important to raise awareness among policy makers, researchers, health professionals and anyone who has an interest in Epidermolysis Bullosa. And we would like to take this opportunity to raise awareness as well as funds to find a cure for EB, one of about 7,000 rare diseases for which there is no cure.

Well, most of you know Damian Lewis is a proud patron of Cure EB.

Patron Damian Lewis with Cure EB founder and CEO Sharmila Collins and young EB patients on BGC Charity Day 2024

The kids that are born with Recessive Dystropic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB) or EB for short lack the protein that holds their skin together. They have extremely fragile skin that they are sometimes called “butterfly children.” Lots of activities we take for granted as easy routines in our daily lives are a struggle for them. Can you imagine a day where your dressing up takes up to two hours and eating and drinking cause blisters in your mouth and throat? These kids have to deal with this kind of pain every single day. Besides, they are under extra risk to develop skin cancer later in life and their life expectancy is not very long. Continue reading “Do it Like Damian Lewis: HELP Raise Awareness for EB on EB Awareness Week!”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at London Sheep Drive

More than a thousand Freemen of the City usher their sheep along a historic trading route once every year to celebrate their medieval right to bring produce to market over the Thames without paying tolls. And Damian was right there, too, last year to use his medieval right!

Shepherd-for-the-day, Damian Lewis wore his grandfather’s wool coat from First World War and carried a shepherd’s crook as he herded the animals over Southwark Bridge in homage to a centuries-old tradition and in what he described as an “eccentric, very British, day.” Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at London Sheep Drive”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Game for Grenfell

We are traveling back to the last days of summer 2017 today with Damian playing in Game for Grenfell, a football match organized to raise funds for all families affected by the horrible Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 that caused at least 80 deaths and more than 70 injuries. This special charity football game attests to our favorite guy’s talent in sports, his generous heart as well as his fun personality. Hope you enjoy it.

source: Getty Images

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Ride4Hugo 2025 in Memory of Hugo and Helen

L-R: Damian, his sister Amanda Yaxley, his brother Gareth Lewis, and brother in-law Charles Yaxley during the bike ride in memory of Hugo and Helen in June 2022

I find it beyond impressive when families turn their tragic losses into good for many others in memory of the loved ones they lost. Ride4Hugo, a campaign Damian’s family run in memory of Hugo Yaxley, Damian and Helen’s nephew, who tragically died in a car accident in November 2020, and also in memory of Helen, who passed away only 5 months after Hugo’s accident, is an extraordinary effort aimed to do good for so many people.

2025 is marking the 5th anniversary of Hugo’s car accident and almost five years since the passing of Helen McCrory. So Hugo’s older brother Tom is getting ready to take on new bike challenges this year to raise funds for charities close to Hugo’s and Helen’s hearts as well as the family’s: Place2Be, Sir HvH Arts, and The Air Ambulances UK.

Here is a recent note from Tom on Instagram about the upcoming Air Base Challenge in which he will ride to all 21 UK Air Ambulances, including Northern Ireland Air Ambulance! These ambulances are funded by the public, and they are on standby 24/7 all year in case you or one of your loved ones need it. Continue reading “Ride4Hugo 2025 in Memory of Hugo and Helen”