Are you a glass artist? Do you make lampworked glass beads? If so, Beads of Courage needs your help.

Beads of Courage is organised in New Zealand by the Child Cancer Foundation. The programme supports and strengthens the protective resources in children coping with serious illness.

Each child’s Beads of Courage journey begins when they are given a length of string and beads that spell out their first name. Then, colourful beads, each representing a different treatment milestone, are given to the child to add to their collection throughout their treatment.

The Child Cancer Foundation specifically needs a random assortment of handmade beads for treatment milestones, purple hearts for children celebrating the completion of their treatment and, sadly, butterfly beads for the end-of-life bead program.

It is expected that over the next year, the Child Cancer Foundation will need around 5,000 handmade beads to keep the Beads of Courage program running in New Zealand.

What we need

The Child Cancer Foundation needs to find 75 glass artists, each willing to donate 75 handmade beads a year to Beads of Courage.

If you would like to be a part of this amazing program, please let us know. We will provide you with a welcome pack explaining how Bead of Courage works. Included will be all the packaging you will need for your donations as well as tutorials on how to make Purple Heart beads and Butterfly Beads.

Your name will be listed on the Beads of Courage website as a donating artist and each bead you donate will be packaged with your name attached.

Type of beads

Random assortment

We specifically ask for a random assortment of handmade beads for children to select from for the Act of Courage and Bone Marrow Transplant (recipient and donor) treatment milestones – use your creativity – the sky is the limit! Many beadmakers donate extras from sets, orphans, slightly wonky beads and the beads sitting in bowls around the house. They are all beautiful in their own right and the children love them.

Purple hearts

We appreciate the donation of handmade Purple Heart beads that are given to children who are celebrating the Completion of their Treatment. We prefer hearts with the hole running horizontally through them, but hearts that have a vertical hole are perfectly acceptable - we ask that they be wired with a headpin loop so that they can be strung with the pointed end down.

Butterfly beads

Finally, we appreciate donations to maintain our End-of-Life bead program. Through this program we provide the professional caregivers with a butterfly bead that they may give to a parent who has suffered the loss of a child. Please be sure to make your butterflies very sturdy – these beads are a remembrance for the families and must stand up to normal handling. There is a tutorial for making butterflies in your welcome pack.

Size of beads

Size is not important; we can use all sizes and variations of beads (round, tubular, odd-shaped) for our treatment milestone beads. The size of the mandrel can range, but 3/32 inch works well and will fit the program stinging material. The cord that is used in the program will fit through 1/16 inch bead holes, but 3/32 inch bead holes would be easier for the kids to string. The inside of the bead should be free of bead release. There should be no sharp corners, cracks or protrusions that would easily break off (such as hearts with long, delicate tails) on the beads that are donated.

Beads should be fully kiln annealed. Please remember that these beads are worn and handled by children and should be sturdy enough to stand up to normal wear and tear.