Cure EB
Damian Lewis is a proud patron of Cure EB.org, formally known as Sohana Research Fund. Sohana Collins is a young teenager who was born with recessive dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB or EB), which means she lacks the protein that holds her skin together. Children with EB have extremely fragile skin that they are sometimes called butterfly children. Damian participates in their annual social media fundraising campaigns such as, EB Tongue Twitter, Stick Out Your Tongue at EB, EB Pop to Make the Blisters Stop, and Coffee to Cure EB. In the past he has participated in their Butterfly Brunch Club campaign and in 2024, Damian hosted their annual Silver Butterfly Dinner fundraiser where they auctioned High Tea at the Ritz with Damian and four lucky guests. In addition, Damian hits the trading floor each year to work the phones for BGC Charity Day to help raise funds for the organization and EB research fund. For more information follow them on Twitter and Facebook or donate here.
Videos:
Message From Damian (2014)
EB Tongue Twister Challenge (2014)
EB Tongue Twister Challenge 2 (2015)
Damian Interviews Professor John McGrath (2015)
Stick Out Your Tongue At EB (2016)
GFI Charity Day-Damian the Trader (2017)
EB Pop to Make the Blisters Stop (2018)
Coffee to Cure EB Campaign (2023)
The Prince’s Trust
Since 200 Damian has been an ambassador for the youth charity The Prince’s Trust. The Prince’s Trust gives practical and financial support to young people who need it the most: 14- to 30-year-olds who have struggled at school, have been in care, are unemployed, or have been in trouble with the law. The Prince’s Trust runs programs that aid and train young people in developing life and workplace skills that will better allow them to pursue work, education or training.
Click here for information on the various ways you can donate to The Prince’s Trust.
YouTube Videos:
Berkeley Square Ball (2005)
Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success Awards Ceremony (2008)
30th Anniversary of Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme (2013)
HvH Arts Foundation and
The McCrory Award
To carry on Helen’s legacy, Damian supports the Sir Hubert von Herkomer Arts Foundation (HvH Arts), a registered charity that facilitates a gateway to the arts for 5-18 year old children and young people by providing them with the inspiration and tools to develop lifelong artistic passions. They are a team of teachers and arts professionals offering a series of ten-week courses at after-school clubs and during school holidays. The courses cover subjects in all medium of the arts, graffiti street art, photography, film making, music sculpting, drama, song writing and poetry. For more information, please visit their website here. In addition, Damian hits the trading floor each year to work the phones for BGC Charity Day to help raise funds for the foundation. In honour of Helen’s memory, the HvH Arts Foundation introduced The McCrory Award in 2021, which is dedicated to supporting gifted children from disadvantaged families who do not have access to the resources, training and income to fulfill their creative arts potential. In November, 2021 The Helen McCrory Studio Theatre was opened at Francis Holland School Regent’s Park, one of HvH Arts Foundation’s main sponsors over the years. Each year, Damian and founder Debbi Clark honor recipients with The McCrory Award.
Scene & Heard
Damian is a patron of the charity Scene & Heard, a unique mentoring project for inner-city children in Somers Town, London. The goal is to have these children experience success and have increased self-esteem via developing their playwriting and drama skills. The charity teams children with a volunteer theatre professional to write short plays and professional actors perform these plays in front of enthusiastic audiences. In 2024 Damian celebrated the charity’s 25 year anniversary and was onsite to announce the opening of Scene & Heard’s pop-up museum titled ‘Kind of Like Fantastic.’
YouTube Videos:
Scene & Heard (2011)
FeedNHS
FeedNHS is a non-profit campaign founded by Damian Lewis, Helen McCrory, Matt Lucas and John Vincent of Leon restaurants to raise money to feed NHS workers during the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020. FeedNHS launched on Friday, March 27, 2020 and soon after partnered with Feed Our Frontline, Baxterstorey, and MealForce. Together, this coalition is now delivering 40,000 meals a day to 88 hospitals in Greater London, Manchester, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Cardiff and others nationwide. In 2022, Damian was honored with the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for the work he and Helen contributed to charitable organizations and public service. For more information, please visit FeedNHS Just Giving page here.
Christian Aid
Damian has served as a Trade Justice Ambassador for the non-denominational and international charity Christian Aid organization, a UK and Ireland based charity that funds projects in some of the world’s poorest countries. In 2005 Damian traveled with Christian Aid to Bolivia, the poorest country in South America, to investigate the forced privatization of essential services, including the water supply. A documentary of his trip titled ‘Bolivia for Sale’ can be viewed on YouTube here.
Soccer Aid for UNICEF
Damian played in the pro-celebrity Soccer Aid games in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2022. These games have brought stadium crowds, television viewers, and sponsors to raise large sums of money for UNICEF. Damian has also lent his celebrity by participating in broadcast commercials and online auctions such as, Faces of Soccer Aid by Andy Gotts. For more information about Soccer Aid for UNICEF, visit their website here.
Red Nose Day
Damian has participated in Red Nose Day on several occasions, including 2013 and more recently in 2019 when many celebrities performed to Hall & Oates song “You Make My Dreams.” Damian recorded himself playing guitar for the fundraiser. Read about that here and you can watch full video of the 2019 campaign here.
Ride4Hugo
Damian is closely involved with the cycling campaign Ride4Hugo, a charity in honor of his nephew Hugo Yaxley which raises money for four outreach programs close to Hugo and Helen McCrory’s heart: HvH Arts Foundation, Place 2Be, Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance services. The charity’s slogan is “Using 2 wheels to keep the memory of Hugo Yaxley and Aunty Helen alive.”
Miscellaneous
Place 2be
Ruth Strauss Foundation: Rock For Ruth
Josephine Hart Foundation: The Poetry Hour
Literacy: Letters Live
Voices of London
Best Beginnings
Save the Children
Game4Grenfell
Rainforest Fund
Park Theatre London, Old Vic, National Gallery
Vogue World London Fund
Take a Moment Campaign
Charlie Waller Trust
National Centre for Circus Arts Gala
ShelterBox
Sheriff’s and Recorder’s Fund
Zero Hunger Plan
Friendship Works