What is Purple Day

Purple Day organisers ask the world to turn purple on March 26^th to show support and raise funds for anyone living with epilepsy. 

Charities need our support now more than ever, so we’re asking you to join us as we try and increase awareness about the condition and raise some money for affected families.

For many people whose lives aren’t directly affected by epilepsy, the realities of the condition can come as a shock. 

More than 50 million people around the world are currently living with epilepsy, with 600,000 of those in the UK alone. Each day, 87 more people are diagnosed in Britain and although diagnoses are more common among older people and children, anyone can develop epilepsy at any stage of their life.

Epilepsy isn’t rare and it isn’t curable, but the consequences can be devastating. About 1,000 people die in the UK each year because of their epilepsy and around 400 of these deaths are preventable. An epilepsy diagnosis can cause some people to lose their driving licence and their job. It can also affect education and employment prospects and lead to loneliness.

Held on 26^th March every year Purple Day is an international day of awareness that allows everyone to get involved. 

How you get involved and raise money is up to you. You can wear purple to work, take part in a bake sale, organise a  coffee morning or dinner party or run (or walk) to raise money – just make sure you turn your world purple for a day.

The annual tradition started in 2008 when a young girl named of Cassidy decided that she wanted to do something about epilepsy ignorance. 

Motivated by her own struggles coping with the condition, Cassidy wanted to get people talking about epilepsy and dispel some of the myths surrounding seizures. With the help of The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia and the Anita Kaufmann Foundation in 2009, Purple Day was born.

If you decide to get involved, don’t forget to share your story with us. Find us on Facebook or 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.

Alert-iT Provides Assistive Technology to support epilepsy, internationally for our expert distributors. We are proud to be the central hub to this network.