Produced by the world’s leading commercial currency provider De La Rue in partnership with the UK Government’s GREAT Britain campaign

Fans will be supporting Together for Short Lives

From Thursday 7th December 2017 fans and collectors across the globe will get the chance to own an official commemorative note that has been specially created to celebrate the launch of the year’s most anticipated film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the follow up to the UK’s biggest film of all time.

The note will be available exclusively on online marketplace ebay.co.uk and has been created using the technological and design expertise of British company De La Rue, a company that provides currency to over two thirds of the world’s countries, including the United Kingdom. This forms part of a special initiative between Disney and the GREAT Britain Campaign to celebrate the 40 years of British creativity behind the Star Wars films.

This holiday season, Disney UK has combined forces to launch a broad campaign across its range of businesses and its partners’ platforms to raise money, awareness and to create magical memories for the children under hospice care. 100% of the money raised from the commemorative note will be donated to Together for Short Lives, on behalf of Star Wars: Force for Change. Together for Short Lives, a UK-based charity, supports children’s hospices and all children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions and their families. Star Wars: Force for Change, a charitable initiative from Lucasfilm and Disney, harnesses the strength of Star Wars to empower and improve the lives of children around the world.

eBay will be the exclusive home to a limited run of 1,000 commemorative notes, available at a fixed price of £100 plus a further 50 unique premium notes up for auction. The notes are crafted with 100% cotton cylinder mould paper, securitised and printed in De La Rue’s high security proofing department based in Hampshire. They incorporate an original light side/dark side artwork composition and several special features including serial numbers; pattern work of the First Order and Resistance emblems; hidden scenes (discoverable under 365nm UV light); hidden messages in microtext (discoverable with an eye glass); a message in Aurebesh, one of the languages of the galaxy; and the signature of Director/Writer Rian Johnson. The 50 unique, premium notes will also include an intaglio (a raised, hand-engraving of Rey) and each will have a unique, sequenced serial number.

The film’s director Rian Johnson, whose signature appears on the official note, said:

It’s incredibly exciting to be part of this one of a kind initiative to mark the release of The Last Jedi and for such a fantastic cause. It was a joy filming in the UK and working with a British crew and I’m delighted the GREAT Britain Campaign and De La Rue are celebrating this with the commemorative note.

The commemorative notes support the Star Wars: Made GREAT in Britain initiative which celebrates the special relationship between Great Britain and the Star Wars films. Over 40 years ago the incredible story between Great Britain and Star Wars began with the production of Star Wars: A New Hope at Elstree Studios. The imagination, inspiration and innovation of the filmmakers included the original lightsaber design by British set decorator Roger Christian - who fashioned it from spare camera parts and collected junk, Academy Award®-winning costume designs from British-born John Mollo – the man who brought Darth Vader’s iconic look to life; and the key roles of the London Symphony Orchestra and Abbey Road - the birthplace of one the most iconic themes in the galaxy. The story continues this year with Star Wars: The Last Jedi which was filmed in the UK using world-class British talent in both the production team and amongst the on screen stars.

Creative Industries Minister Matt Hancock said:

We are thrilled the new Star Wars film will be celebrated with a commemorative note. The film proudly flies the flag for the UK’s creative industries. Shot at the iconic Pinewood Studios, it features some of the best British talent in front and behind the cameras and bodes well for the future of UK film. Star Wars is part of the huge success of our film industry. Supported by the Government’s highly successful film tax relief, UK film contributes over £4 billion a year to the economy and supports nearly 70,000 full time jobs. We love film and support the film industry at every turn.

Barbara Gelb OBE, CEO of Together for Short Lives said:

We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with Disney on this incredibly exciting campaign, celebrating the launch of the eagerly awaited Star Wars: The Last Jedi. These commemorative notes are sure to be a huge hit with Star Wars fans; such a fantastic way to raise some ‘real-world’ money to support seriously ill children and young people across the UK. Together for Short Lives will receive 100% of the income so please get bidding and be a Force for Change.

Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of De La Rue, said:

As a huge Star Wars fan it has been incredibly exciting to be part of this fantastic collaboration with Disney and the GREAT campaign and for our talented design team to transfer the characters from the film onto the commemorative notes. As a great British business we were delighted to have this opportunity to bring together the talent in the British film industry, with the innovation and creative expertise of our design studio, for such a worthwhile cause. De La Rue produces bank notes and passports which are icons of national pride, so we are incredibly proud to be able to use our skills to celebrate Star Wars, an icon of intergalactic pride.

Rob Hattrell, VP, eBay UK , said:

eBay partnered with The Walt Disney Company earlier this month to launch our first dedicated Star Wars shop (ebay.co.uk/StarWars), offering the most diverse range of Star Wars products and memorabilia for fans of the film. Now, we are giving people the opportunity to own a unique piece of Star Wars history with these limited edition commemorative notes, whilst also raising money for a fantastic cause. With 23 million shoppers on site every month, we are able to tap into the nation’s passions and create exciting retail moments like these. On eBay we see shoppers searching every three seconds for Star Wars merchandise and so we are confident that these limited edition notes will result in a buying frenzy that the galaxy has never seen before.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi releases in UK cinemas from 14th December 2017. On Thursday 7th December from 8pm GMT the 1,000 commemorative notes will become available to buy at a fixed price on www.ebay.co.uk/starwars and the 50 premium notes will be up for auction for 10 days until Sunday 17th December 2017.

For video assets please contact: paris.penmandavies@fco.gov.uk

For Disney please contact: stu.oakley@disney.com

About Star Wars: The Last Jedi

In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of the UK’s biggest film of all time, The Force Awakens, join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past. The film stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman. J.J. Abrams, Tom Karnowski and Jason McGatlin are the executive producers. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in U.K. cinemas on December 14, 2017. CONTACT: ashleigh.richardson@disney.com

About the GREAT Britain campaign

The GREAT Britain Campaign is the UK Government’s most ambitious international marketing campaign ever and showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer in order to encourage the world to visit, study and do business with the UK. It is active in over 144 countries and has so far generated over £3bn in economic returns for Britain.

About De La Rue

De La Rue is the world’s largest commercial producer of currency and passports, supplying two thirds of the world’s countries. We are a great British business, with 200 years of experience in international trade and export 80% of our products globally. De La Rue also creates security features that ensure banknotes are protected against counterfeiting and provides governments and commercial organisations with the tools they need to tackle illicit trade. In the last three years alone, De La Rue generating over 7 billion unique products and solutions annually – in the form of banknotes, passports and secure product identifiers. De La Rue is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LON-DLAR). Contact Sinead.Keller@delarue.com

About Star Wars: Force for Change

Star Wars: Force for Change, a charitable initiative from Lucasfilm and Disney, harnesses the strength of Star Wars to empower and improve the lives of children around the world. Since 2014, it was inspired by Star Wars fans, and the countless hours they have dedicated to philanthropy over the past four decades. To date, over $16 million has been raised for charitable causes around the world on behalf of Star Wars: Force for Change. With a bright future ahead, and new Star Wars stories to be told, Force for Change aims to continue collaborating with causes and encouraging others to be forces for change in their own community.

About eBay.co.uk

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity through Connected Commerce. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay is one of the world’s largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2016, eBay enabled $83 billion of gross merchandise volume Contact: ahague@ebay.com

About Together for Short Lives

Together for Short Lives is a UK wide charity that, together with its members, speaks out for all children and young people who are expected to have short lives. The charity is there to help children and their families to access specialist children’s palliative care services when and where they need it. They provide information so families know where to go for support and have the help they need to make the right choices about their child’s care. Together for Short Lives supports all the professionals, children’s palliative care services and children’s hospices that deliver lifeline care to children and families across the UK. Together with everyone who provides care and support to these children and families, the charity is there to help them have as fulfilling lives as possible and the very best care at the end of life.

Contact Together for Short Lives press office: 0117 989 7820 Visit www.togetherforshortlives.org.uk for more information. Follow Together for Short Lives on Twitter www.twitter.com/Tog4ShortLives Like Together for Short Lives on Facebook at www.facebook.com/togetherforshortlives Together for Short Lives is a registered charity in England and Wales (1144022) and Scotland (SC044139)