Cards for Bravery
Nominee Profile
Location: Bishop's Stortford
Cards for Bravery is a charity dedicated to brightening the days and supporting the emotional wellbeing of hospitalised and seriously ill children, young people, and their families across the UK.
The charity was founded in 2015 by Katie Callaghan, then just 13 years old. During a four-month long hospital admission due to chronic illness, a friend gave her a handmade card that brightened her day. That small gesture sparked an idea, to bring the same comfort to others going through similar challenges. Katie then started creating cards for other children on her hospital ward.
What started with just a few cards to one hospital, and being run from Katie’s hospital bed, has now grown into a nationwide organisation, working with over 35 NHS trusts, CAMHS units, hospices, and families. We’ve now distributed over 45,000 resources across the UK.
Cards for Bravery creates and distributes positive handmade cards, bravery packages, activity packs, sibling support packs, and other resources. Every item is designed to brighten a day, ease anxiety, and remind someone they are not alone. These small moments of kindness can have a lasting impact on emotional well-being, especially during long hospital stays or ongoing treatment.
We are a volunteer run charity, most of who are young people with lived experience of hospitalisation and/or chronic illness.
Now celebrating our 10th anniversary year, we’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come, and we’re only just getting started. Having registered with the charity commission in 2023, Cards for Bravery is onto its next chapter with a mission of supporting as many hospitalised children, young people and their families as possible. We’re committed to making sure no one young person faces illness alone.
The charity was founded in 2015 by Katie Callaghan, then just 13 years old. During a four-month long hospital admission due to chronic illness, a friend gave her a handmade card that brightened her day. That small gesture sparked an idea, to bring the same comfort to others going through similar challenges. Katie then started creating cards for other children on her hospital ward.
What started with just a few cards to one hospital, and being run from Katie’s hospital bed, has now grown into a nationwide organisation, working with over 35 NHS trusts, CAMHS units, hospices, and families. We’ve now distributed over 45,000 resources across the UK.
Cards for Bravery creates and distributes positive handmade cards, bravery packages, activity packs, sibling support packs, and other resources. Every item is designed to brighten a day, ease anxiety, and remind someone they are not alone. These small moments of kindness can have a lasting impact on emotional well-being, especially during long hospital stays or ongoing treatment.
We are a volunteer run charity, most of who are young people with lived experience of hospitalisation and/or chronic illness.
Now celebrating our 10th anniversary year, we’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come, and we’re only just getting started. Having registered with the charity commission in 2023, Cards for Bravery is onto its next chapter with a mission of supporting as many hospitalised children, young people and their families as possible. We’re committed to making sure no one young person faces illness alone.