Louis Tomlinson is the ray of sunshine we all need

It’s no secret how strong Louis Tomlinson’s relationship with his fans is and always has been; he’s said so many times how lucky he feels to have them, how much he appreciates their dedication and loyalty and how much he feels like he’s never doing anything on his own because it’s always a team effort.

And during these difficult times, nothing has changed, if the way he’s being more active on social media to encourage people to stay home is any indication. Setting a good example, our Doncaster boy is, in fact, spending more time at home and focusing on his second favourite hobby when he is online, which is checking on us! (His absolute favourite one is definitely thanking us without even needing a reason to, but I’m not enumerating all the reasons why we don’t deserve him so let’s try to stick to the topic.)

Whether it is to remind us to stay safe, to suggest music to listen to during quarantine (Have you ever heard of Walls by Louis Tomlinson? It could probably be the only good thing that happened in 2020, check it out!); to acknowledge fans projects like the #LouisBalconyParty where Italian stans blared his discography from their balconies, or windows or the #WallsOlympics where his fans from all over the world were involved in a streaming tournament; to praise care workers; to tease his boys James Blonde and Miami Vice; or just to interact with fans and send us “loads of love”, our Lou never fails to prove how much he cares about his Louies.

Hope everyone's doing alright and staying safe. Sending loads of love

— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) March 29, 2020

No matter how hard some media try to paint him negatively from time to time, we know the real Louis is a thoughtful and caring person who wants to make people happy and help those less fortunate whenever and however he can.

Throughout the years he has donated to a lot of charities and people in need, most of the times privately, never making a big deal out of it and not even sharing it personally on social media unless it was to spread awareness and raise more money thanks to his huge generous fanbase.

He’s met many children suffering from many syndromes, keeping in contact with them even after the meeting and sending them gifts and donations. He’s recorded, with other musicians, a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water” to raise money for the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Louis is a patron of The Eden Dora Trust that funds research into childhood encephalitis; of Stacey’s Smiles, that supports families affected by childhood cancer; of Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, which serves children and young adults with a shortened life expectancy (in 2017 he purchased the entirety of their Amazon wishlist to give as Christmas gifts); of The Harvey Hext Trust – A Siblings Wish, which provides personalized memory boxes to help preserve memories of a lost sibling; and of the Yorkshire Children of Courage Awards, which recognise outstanding children and teenagers despite their difficulties.

Tomlinson has supported so many campaigns: the National Health Service’s Voices campaign; the Red Nose Day (he even colored his hair red!) to keep children safe, healthy and educated; the Channel 4 and Cancer Research’s Stand Up To Cancer campaign, appearing with his bandmate Liam Payne on Gogglebox.

He has played in multiple charity football matches, including Bluebell Wood Charity Match in Doncaster 2012, Pros vs Stars 2014 and Soccer Aid 2016; in this occasion, he took care of a little deaf girl, Summer, who was originally assigned to Robbie Williams, but Louis reached out because he knows some sign language and held her close to him all the time to make her feel safe.

Louis hosted the Believe in Magic Cinderella Ball in 2015, where terminally ill children were treated like princes and princesses, donating £2,000,000; he’s signed stuff to raise money for various causes; he’s sent heartwarming videos to some of his fans who were fighting cancer.

Tomlinson visited Youth on Solid Ground as part of BBC’s Children in Need staying for the whole session playing Football, coaching and chatting to the kids and a toy drive in Atlanta, where his appearance wasn’t even planned; he was just in the city, heard about it so he went there, donated toys and also played soccer with some of the children.
He’s performed at charity concerts, like the “Live. Life. Love: concert for suicide prevention” or the special show for War Child UK to support their work protecting children affected by conflict.

His lovely mum Johannah once mentioned that when Louis suffered a bad press day he used to say to her, “Come on mum, let’s make someone happy today,” and that says everything you need to know about him as a person. Things may be different now in many ways, but Louis’ heart of gold is still the same.

He has been through so much, on a personal and professional level, but he never gave up, he never let anything take away his bright smile and he never lost his optimism and glass-half-full attitude. The same attitude he tries to pass on to his younger siblings and to his stans, through his words, his actions and his lyrics.

One of the most appreciated songs from Walls, “Two Of Us” — an emotional tribute to his mother who sadly passed away in December 2016 — was also written to inspire and help others through grief. “Despite how difficult it can be to deal with these things when people are watching, if I have the possibility to help even one person, that’s massive,” Louis said.

Yet, as time goes by and fans manage to tell him how much the tune has actually benefitted them, he is still surprised. “I still can’t even really comprehend that. I can write stuff that can actually have a real positive impact on people. And you know actually help through a proper horrible time.”

Louis Tomlinson literally brightens up our days and lives. We call him “sun” for a reason, after all!