‘Out of office’ from 16th April
Just a heads up that I will be ‘out of office’ (in a Blue Sunday capacity) from mid-April. So any Blue Sunday related queries or requests or admin won’t be seen to after 16th April.
I do this every year to allow myself as much time to recover from the preparation of Blue Sunday, ready for me to enjoy the day itself.
By Tuesday 16th April, all Blue Sunday admin will be completed, and I will be unavailable in the run-up to 19th May (aka Blue Sunday).
Over 10 years of Blue Sunday and the Tea Party For M.E.
Once again, I’m hosting my Tea Party For M.E. for people with M.E. and their family and friends. I strongly believe that we need and deserve a dedicated day of fundraising, but also a day where we can come together to mark and celebrate our resilience and our strength in the face of this cruel and life-altering disease.
On Sunday 19th May, people from all over the world will meet up online to chat and leave comments on each other’s posts. While doing so they’ll be enjoying tea and cake (or whatever their delicate digestive systems can manage) and donating what they can to M.E. charities and causes.
We are so often excluded from events because our symptoms can make it so difficult for us to leave the house, let alone spend an hour or two at an event. More often than not, we are too unwell to have visitors. That’s why the Tea Party For M.E. has always had an online/virtual element running alongside any in-person tea parties.
How to donate
The idea is that, if you’re able to, you donate the price of tea and cake to an ME. charity of your choice.
Please visit the ‘Blue Sunday’ Donations tab where you’ll find direct links to the M.E charities/non-profits that I am in touch with this year.
Since 2013, together we have raised over £100,000 for M.E. charities through Blue Sunday celebrations.
If you’d like your own JustGiving page (only available for Action for M.E., The M.E. Association, M.E. Research UK, Smile for ME, or Invest in M.E. Research) please link it to my Blue Sunday Crew.
How to join in
The premise is simple:
- Wear something blue (pyjamas count!)
- Dig out your best cups and saucers, or a blue mug
- Add the social media frame to your profile picture
- Bake or buy your favourite cake, or have a packet of biscuits in your bedside snack drawer (everyone has one, right?)
- Post a photo of your little tea party set-up to social media. You can share your photos in the Blue Sunday 2024 Facebook Event or on Twitter (now X) and/or Instagram using the hashtags #TeaPartyForME2024 #BlueSunday2024
- If you’re able to, invite your family and friends to enjoy tea and cake with you, in-person or via video call
- Donate the price you’d pay in a café if you are able to. Please use the direct links on the Donations page
- Connect with others online who are doing the same, by commenting on their photos and posts. Simply scrolling social media while having a cup of tea is how most people join in on Blue Sunday
- Watch or listen to Isaac Greer’s Blue Sunday concert (see next paragraph)
- Feel a part of my in-person tea party as I upload photos and videos from the event I host every ‘Blue Sunday’.
- Print off the digital downloads available to help get you into the Tea Party For M.E. spirit. You’ll find them at Sunshine Makes and Bakes
- Print off the free, two-page Blue Sunday leaflet for your tea party guests.
Isaac Greer’s Blue Sunday Concert
Isaac Greer has put together an incredible online concert in honour of his sister Eliana who has Severe M.E. You can watch the concert via Eventbrite. Donations to Isaac’s concert will be split equally between Smile 4 ME and ME Research UK. Why not watch/listen whilst enjoying your tea and cake on Blue Sunday? More information via Isaac’s Isaac’s event page.
T-shirts
M.E. restricts many people in a way that means they cannot join in with having tea and cake. With those people in mind, I have created some Blue Sunday T-shirts in the hope wearing one will make people feel a part of the day regardless of whether they can have tea and cake.
International shipping is available.
You can purchase one at the Blue Sunday Teemill shop
Group video call
My health *still* will not cooperate enough to allow me to host a group video call. But members of the M.E. community do host them and often open them up to anyone looking to join in with a tea party via video call.
I will the share the details of video calls, as they come in, on my social media pages.
Long Covid
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, we are seeing a huge increase in people suffering with post-viral illness. My own M.E. is post-viral. I got a virus one day and I never got better. Although the virus was not covid-19, a lot of the experience seems to be much the same. Not least the lack of help or support, and the damaging and incorrect ideas about the illness being psychosomatic and exercise being incorrectly recommended as a safe and effective treatment.
‘Blue Sunday’ has always been open to everyone, although the charities we fundraise for will always be ME/CFS charities. It is likely though, that those charities are now including Long covid patients amongst those who they support and advocate for.
If you have Long covid, with or without an ME/CFS diagnosis, please know that you are very welcome to join us on the day.
More information
See the Blue Sunday Frequently Asked Questions or Blue Sunday tab for more information.
M.E. myself and I 