Activist and friend of The Big Issue Michael Sheen is teaming up with fellow actor Misha Collins on a campaign to raise much-needed funds for homeless people during the crisis.
Their Super Good campaign will see t-shirts and pendants – designed to reflect the pair’s respective roles as angels in Good Omen and Supernatural – sold with all profits going to good causes in Wales and the US.
Neither of the actors are new to using their platforms for good. Collins is co-founder of charity Random Acts, which funds acts of kindness around the world, and Sheen has a long history of supporting the fight to end poverty. When the Homeless World Cup ran into funding shortages last year, he used his own money to ensure the even could still go ahead, and has previously thrown support behind NHS Wales and Unicef UK.
His determination to fight the good fight even rubbed off on fans, who have been using their creative skills to serve Sheen merchandise to raise money for charity.
A very big thank you to @thewhitecurl and fans who raised an incredible £516 for us with another £400 in matched donations over the past month. The White Curl produces stickers, prints etc featuring @michaelsheen and supporters also raised £840 for the @homelesswrldcup. pic.twitter.com/DM7WjBjP0w
— Huggard (@HuggardCentre) July 27, 2020
“Good Omens came out around the same time as I was part of hosting the Homeless World Cup tournament in Wales last year,” Sheen said. “The Good Omens fans, who are a passionate and committed tribe, took an interest in the work I was doing around homelessness and social exclusion and I kept seeing people talk about the similar work Misha was doing.
“The fact that we were both known for playing angels seemed like a synchronicity that couldn’t be ignored. When the suggestion was made for us to team up for a campaign around homelessness it just seemed like such a perfect opportunity.”
But when the Covid-19 crisis gripped the planet, much of the work done for the campaign had to change overnight. As well as presenting a huge challenge, Sheen said, the pandemic also gives us an opportunity to change the way we fight homelessness.
He said he’ll use any money raised from the Super Good campaign to set up a fund supporting homelessness organisations in Wales.
Collins spoke of his own experience of homelessness as a child, pointing out that low-income families are being hardest hit by job losses and evictions.
“This campaign will mobilise people to support organisations like Lydia Place doing ‘super good’ work to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness,” he said.
The actors are set to announce more details on the campaign in a livestream later tonight.
