MerseyMade artist Sophie Green launches Eurovision badge with every sale supporting people in Ukraine

Liverpool artist Sophie Green has created a special Eurovision badge, with money from each sale going to support aid efforts in the Ukraine.

The MerseyMade creative has already sent £500 to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal organised by the Disasters Emergency Committee to help charities deliver food, warmth, clean water, and medical care to people in the country and surrounding areas.

‘Adopted Scouser’ Sophie decided to make the donation – £1 for each Ukraine Enamel Pin Badge she has had made – as a way of giving back and helping to support the efforts in the war-torn country and surrounding areas: “They are helping people on the ground with food and shelter, and healthcare and things like that, so they are doing a lot of great work over there.”

And the badge will also celebrate the event itself.

Hopefully in the run up to Eurovision, she can make more, she says, and raise more for the fund.

Designed in the artist’s signature style, the £8 pin badge features the words Liverpool and Ukraine in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Sophie explains: “It’s just very simple design with hands reaching out to the heart to give the feeling of connection, and it’s a celebration of Eurovision and the joy that can come from that.

“So there’s musical elements as well, and little hearts. It’s like a little poppy explosion of joy.

“When I did it, I hadn’t realised the Eurovision logo features a heart as well, I just dropped it in, but it’s my own thing.”

Sophie, who moved to Merseyside from her native Leicester in 2008, said she’d been encouraged to create the badge when the city was given the honour of hosting the global song contest.

A Eurovision fan, she says: “When Liverpool got Eurovision, I wanted to do something to show a positive connection.

“Liverpool is going to be representing Ukraine and it’s a huge deal and such an honour.

“I wanted to do something in my own way, that could be seen around the city, but I didn’t want to make it overtly Eurovision. 

“I did want to give something back because it is a worrying situation, but my thing is to keep things bright and positive and upbeat as much as I can because real life is heavy at times, so my this is to share a bit of positivity.”

Her distinctly vibrant style has seen Sophie’s art used by organisations and charities across the city.

And she adds: “I’ve been making pin badges for the last couple of years and they’ve been going really well, with lots of Liverpool-themed designs, Queer designs and allyship.

“So I thought let’s do a pin badge and get everyone wearing it.

“Eurovision is great for the city, it’s like the whole world is coming to Liverpool, and it’s mind-blowing.”

With a call out for creatives, Sophie is working on more Eurovision-themed work which she hopes will be picked up by organisations as contest fever takes hold, adding: “It’s a great time for creatives in the city, and a huge boost when times, as they are for everyone, are hard.

“It’s nice to have something so positive to look forward to.”

The Ukraine Enamel Pin Badges are available from Sophie’s website here, direct from her studio upstairs in MerseyMade on Paradise Street, MerseyMade’s pop-up shop in Manesty’s Lane near Waterstones (until the end of February), the Everyman Theatre, Utility and Shakespeare North Playhouse.

The Royal Liver Building 360 Tour has got stickers, and Sophie also has postcards and prints which she can put into packages for charities working with and wanting to support Ukraine.