The story behind HHSS: why we built from broken

HHSS stands for Heavy Heart, Strong Soul. It's a small UK clothing brand, sold online and shipped across Britain, built around one idea: men's mental health deserves better than silence, and better than cheap slogan merch.

What Built From Broken means to me

For me, Built From Broken is personal. It represents the times in my life when I've struggled, felt lost, been knocked down and had to find a way to keep going.

There have been times when I haven't felt like myself. Times when things have become too much, but I've kept a lot of it inside and tried to carry on as if everything was fine.

But I've learned that being broken by something doesn't mean you have to stay broken. Every difficult period leaves something behind. It changes you. You learn from it, rebuild, and sometimes come out of it stronger — even if you still carry some of the scars.

It doesn't mean I've got everything figured out. It doesn't mean the difficult days have disappeared. It means I'm still here. I'm still building.

And that's a huge part of why I created Heavy Heart Strong Soul. I wanted to turn some of what I've been through into something that might help somebody else feel less alone. Because everyone has a story. Different struggles. Different scars. Different journeys. Same roads. Different stories.

I know what Built From Broken means to me. What does it mean to you?

Why HHSS exists

In the UK, men account for around three in every four suicides. Most men who are struggling don't say so — not to their mates, not to their family, often not to a doctor. We wanted to make something that sits in that silence and makes it a little easier to break.

Not a campaign. Not a lecture. Clothing people genuinely want to wear, with a message that means something to the person wearing it and the person reading it.

Heavy Heart, Strong Soul

The name holds two things together on purpose. A heavy heart is what you carry — grief, stress, a dark few months, a bad year. A strong soul is what keeps you going anyway. Neither cancels the other out. Built From Broken is the line that connects them.

Who every order supports

We're proud to support Man Down UK, a non-profit Community Interest Company that started in Cornwall in 2019 with eight men in a room in Penryn. They now run 45+ free peer-support groups across the UK, run by volunteer facilitators, and over 7,500 men walked through their doors in 2025 alone. No referral, no waiting list — a man can just turn up.

£5 from every £55 hoodie, £3 from every £30 tee, £2 from every £22 cap and £1 from every £5 car sticker goes to Man Down UK.

What we won't do

• We won't invent reviews or ratings — only real customers' words appear on the site.
• We won't claim stock we don't have: Drop 01 is live — early-access members are shopping first; sign up and your private link arrives straight away. The £5 Built From Broken car window sticker is in stock now, with free UK delivery and 1–2 working day dispatch.
• We won't pretend clothing is treatment. It's a conversation starter; professional help is still professional help.

Get in touch

Questions about the brand, the donations or an order — the contact page reaches a real person.

If you're struggling right now, call Samaritans free on 116 123 (24/7), text SHOUT to 85258, or call 999 in an emergency. For free peer support with other men, find your nearest Man Down UK group at mandown.org.