What is Blue Sunday?
Blue Sunday, created by Anna Redshaw, is an annual fundraiser held in May on the Sunday closest to ME Awareness Day, 12th May. The Tea Party For ME is a day for the ME community and their friends, family and allies to come together to raise awareness of ME and money for ME charities whilst enjoying some cake and joining in with the camaraderie.
How to join in
- Dig out your best cup & saucers
- Wear something blue
- Have a slice of cake, or two
- Donate the price you’d pay in a cafe to an ME charity
- Post a photo of your little tea party set up on social media
- Join others online as they do the same from their own homes
Blue Sunday history
“For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Anna. I’m a history graduate turned full-time poorly person who suffers with M.E/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I was diagnosed in 2010 and am still affected every minute of every day. I started ‘Blue Sunday’ in 2013 as a way of fundraising and raising awareness of M.E. I felt something was needed to commemorate International M.E. Awareness Week each May but, as M.E. sufferers are so restricted by their ill health, the ‘conventional’ methods of fundraising, such a running a marathon, weren’t appropriate. Many of us are still able to drink tea and eat cake though. I for one would go so far as saying I’m actually very good at it! So the ‘Blue Sunday’ tea party was born. I invited friends and family to join me for afternoon tea and asked for small donations of the price people would expect to pay for a pot of tea and a slice of cake in a coffee shop. As many of my fellow sufferers are too poorly to travel, I held a virtual tea party too, where people could join in online. I uploaded photos and videos of the event being held at home so that even those stuck in bed on the other side of the world could join in.”
@teapartyform.e www.the-slow-lane.com
Support Smile For ME
Thank you Anna for opening up Blue Sunday for ME charities across the world to be a part of and thank you to those who kindly choose to support Smile For ME, we really do appreciate it. Being a small charity your money makes a big difference to us and enables us to continue sending Smiles to people affected by ME. Thanks to your support Blue Sunday has raised an amazing amount of money for us.
2020 = £380
2021 = £1,036.58
2022 = £1,739.85
2023 = £2,342.22