March is internationally recognised as Epilepsy Awareness month and is a great excuse for everyone to get involved in pushing forward a wider understanding of this neurological condition. In fact on 26th March the world (fingers crossed!) will turn purple as people get involved in raising money for those who have epilepsy and those who look after and care for them.
So join us as we continue to strive for a wider recognition of epilepsy, it really couldn’t be easier to help.
Why Should You Help?
We understand that for many people who aren’t affected in some form or another by epilepsy that the condition is unlikely to be at the forefront of their minds. But this is exactly what needs to change.
Did you know that more than 50 million people around the world are living with epilepsy and 600,000 of those are in the UK alone? What’s quite shocking is that in Great Briton 87 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every single day. In fact, despite diagnosis being more common in children and older adults, anyone can develop epilepsy at any stage of their life which is exactly why no one should dismiss the condition now.
Epilepsy is not a rare condition and the terrible truth is that even with today’s medication epilepsy cannot be cured. It is therefore so important that we continue to raise awareness surrounding epilepsy and help people understand that we should never stigmatise those who have the condition.
So What is Purple Day?
Held on 26th March every year Purple Day is an international day of awareness and everyone can get involved. The event is simple and your fundraising efforts are entirely up to you, whether you opt to wear purple to work, take part in a bake sale, a simple coffee morning or dinner party or run (or walk) to raise money; just make sure you turn your world purple for a day.
The day began back in 2008 when a young girl by the name of Cassidy Megan decided she wanted to do something about the lack of awareness surrounding epilepsy. After being motivated by her own struggles with coping with epilepsy Cassidy wanted to get people talking and dispel myths as well as inform those with and without seizures. And, with the help of The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia and the Anita Kaufmann Foundation in 2009, Purple Day was launched.
Fundraising at Alert-it
The team here at Alert-it will be doing our bit too and looking to raise both awareness and money throughout the month and particularly on the day. We?ve got the team working hard to bake some delicious, and mostly purple, cakes, biscuits, brownies and other mouth-watering goodies for our bake sale.
We will also be spending the day at the city hall in London, with Young Epilepsy charity and sponsoring the best practise award.
And even more than that, we are setting up a scheme whereby we will increase delivery fees on all monitors by just 50 pence for the entire year. We will then match the 50p from every one sold so that for each package we send out ?1 will be raised. The team will then collate this until there is enough money to fund a monitor which we will be donated to one of our chosen charities. Our aim is to donate three support monitors to the charities over the remainder of the year.
Shout About Your Fundraising
As you help to turn the world purple and raise awareness around epilepsy don’t forget to tell us your stories. Find us on Facebook and Twitter and tell us what you have been up to, share your photos and don’t forget to hashtag #mypurpleday to get the event trending.
If you?d like more information regarding any of our assisted technology, or would like a bit of advice on coping with epilepsy give our fantastic team a call on 0845 217 9952 or 01530 231215