The BRIT Awards Are Collaborating With War Child To Provide Urgent Care To Children In Warzones
Photo: Fatboy Slim by Aaron Parsons
Photo: Lambrini Girls, War Child
The BRIT Awards 2026 are set to hit a political note that hasn’t been witnessed for the last 30 years. When you think of the BRIT Awards, it’s more likely that images of Gerri Halliwell wearing a Union Jack flag fashioned as a dress, or Oasis swearing after winning an award, come to mind. It’s less likely that how music is used as a force for change is what you consider. BRITs Week changes that perspective, spotlighting the cultural and humanitarian impact our favourite artists can help amplify on a global scale.
BRITs Week is the highly anticipated build-up of live performances that excite audiences in the days before the BRIT Awards, where artists from across the globe set their chart rivalries aside for an evening of celebrating the music industry. In the series of live performances, global chart toppers including Fat Boy Slim, Robbie Williams, and new grammy-award winner Olivia Dean will be part of the movement. The live performances are brought to you by War Child, the charity supporting children and young people in communities affected by war and conflict across the world.
‘We work in 14 different countries; all of the places you'd expect, and then all the places that don't see on the news as well,’ shares Clare Sanders-Wright, head of live music at War Child UK. ‘We work in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, and we also work in loads of places which are not on the news anymore, or hardly, like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria.
Photo: Robbie Williams, War Child
‘We treat psychological and psychosocial support the same as a first response. It's as important as water, it's as important as shelter, it's as important as clothing. The money that is raised from BRITs Week goes to supporting our work. We get into countries as soon as we can and start supporting children with mental health needs, as well as obviously providing shelter. The money raised can be funnelled into any of the countries that we work in where the need is most acute at that time.’
War Child first began hosting live music performances with the BRIT Awards in 2009, bringing fans into intimate venues with their favourite artists for a night of music, dancing and fundraising. Since the week of events began, the charity has raised over £7.5 million.
‘A few years ago, we needed to move money straight into Ukraine,’ explains Clare. ‘So, the BRITs Week money went to support Ukraine at that point. We were talking to some children in Ukraine, and they were saying how scary the bomb shelters were, really dark and grey. We went into them and turned them into really colourful, almost like play zones, so that when kids went down there, there were books, toys and crayons. Kids are resilient and adapt really quickly as well, so it's about getting there as soon as possible and making things as bearable as possible at that point, too.
Photo: Bimini, War Child
‘We listen to children and to what's important to them. When a child is like, ‘this part makes me really scared, it's really dark and scary’, you go, ‘okay, what can we do to just lighten things up a little bit?’. We run all sorts of classes and programmes in-country, and we train local partners so that everybody learns our evidence-based methodologies in psychosocial support. Each time somebody learns, they can pass that on and pass that on, because the sooner you can get to a traumatised child, the better.’
Help(2) is the collaborative album keeping that message heard after the BRIT Awards, with proceeds supporting the work of War Child to provide urgent care to children around the world. It follows the original Help record that was produced in 1996, sharing the same call to action. Artists featured on the new record include Olivia Rodrigo, Ezra Collective, Arctic Monkeys, The Last Dinner Party and Pulp. To keep activism at the heart of the album, children filmed the music videos for each of the tracks.
Clare adds, ‘Musicians, by nature, tend to want to help. This group of artists came together, and with the most incredible producer ever, James Ford, at the helm, along with other producers working on it. It’s gonna spread the word even further and tell more people about our important work. Of course, and raise loads of money.
‘I saw one kid ask somebody ‘How old are you?’, and another asked Damon Albarn ‘What's your most favourite band you've been in?’. David's like, ‘What band was I in?’ and the kid's like, ‘I don't know!’. You know, it's just so innocent. And you have a child, asking Beabadoobee, ‘What do you like most? Doughnuts or bagels?’. I think seeing it through a child's eyes is really, really, really important. Seeing war through a child's eyes is also important for us to be able to do our work, so it all ties in.
‘With the artists being interviewed by the children, and just having kids in the studio, that does not happen. These are like sacred spaces, so it adds a whole new dynamic. You can't help but be a bit more chilled around kids sometimes, because you just have to succumb.
Photo: Olivia Dean, War Child
‘I've learned so much from listening to musicians, and I think, when you're a fan of an artist and an artist who makes a stand for something - something really important like supporting children living through the most horrendous of circumstances - you learn, and then you might think ‘hey, this is important, I want to take the stand’. So, I think it's important to use your voice if you can.’
The BRIT Awards will be hosted on Saturday 28th February and Help(2) will be released on Friday 6th March.
