Why is the tea party called Blue Sunday?
The awareness colour of ME/CFS is blue. The first Tea Party For M.E we ever held just happened to be on a Sunday. It really is as simple as that. We wear blue, have blue decorations, blue cakes, blue everything!
Why did you start the tea party?
Because there wasn’t anything I could get behind whilst so unwell. I couldn’t even be wheeled in my wheelchair to take part in a charity walk. It didn’t seem right that the very people that fundraising events were raising money for, couldn’t actually participate in them.
Where did the idea for a charity tea party come from?
My birthday!
Do you take a portion of the fundraising to cover your outgoings?
No, I don’t. I fund the tea party myself with help from family and friends. I do get small, separate contributions sent to me by my followers, to help cover costs, via my KoFi page.
Donations are sent directly to the ME/CFS charity or non-profit by the donators. I do not collect or receive any of this money to send on.
Some fundraising platforms (like JustGiving) take a % to cover the service and help they offer to the charity. But
Can I come to your in-person tea party?
Absolutely. It’d be lovely to have you with us.
There can be up to 70 guests at the tea party and so it can get quite noisy with so many people chatting over cake.
We’re currently having a break from hosting bigger events as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic that started in 2020. With so many cases of ME/CFS being a consequence of viruses, it doesn’t yet feel appropriate to socialise in large crowds. We are hoping to find some kind of solution by 2027 so we can mark fifteen years since Blue Sunday began.
'M.E. myself and I' by Anna Redshaw 