We’ve been doing this whole “merchandise with a message” thing for a couple years now, but today, as we launch our brand new range I wanted to take a second to explain why we do it.

It all stems from the idea that if I see someone wearing a t-shirt of a band that I like, then we have something in common – support of that band – which makes me feel like I could get on with them and have a conversation. So why not translate that into something like talking about mental health?

Self-harm is still a pretty taboo subject, even though it affects around 1 in 12 young people. So we want to do whatever we can to make it ok to talk about what you’re going through, and know where to find the support that you need.

We want people to see Heads Above The Waves shirts out and about, recognise the designs and the message behind them, and then build a community of people who feel like they can talk together about mental wellbeing. So if you see someone wearing HATW – be brave and go tell them you know what it stands for!

We also use our merch as a chance to spread an important message. If you’ve ordered something from us before, you would (hopefully!) have received some flyers explaining what we do, and why we do it.

Our swing tags explain some of the stats around self-harm, and the fact that helping someone could be as simple as having a conversation with them.

The other side of the swing tag explains what inspired the design – that could be a song lyric that’s inspired us/the designer, and we want to share with you in the hope that it might inspire you too – or it could be someone’s story that we’ve shared on our site.

Our designs come from a range of artists and designers too, so there’s something to suit everyone’s tastes, as well as promoting them as a designer – be sure to check out our interviews with some of our artists to find out a bit more about them and why they’ve designed what they did.

With all that in mind – take a look at our new range of merch with a message that’s dropping tonight. Whenever you buy some merch from us, it helps us to keep operating, sharing a positive message, and get out into schools to deliver our workshops and give people the chance to try out positive coping mechanisms for themselves.