Light Up For Lyme 2023

We are on the countdown to Lyme Disease Awareness Month this May!

Every year, Lyme Disease UK runs an annual ‘Wake Up To Lyme’ campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the illness, how you can prevent tick bites, and what you should do if you’re bitten.

With just two months until May, we’re launching our first campaign initiative! We would be delighted if you would take part in Light Up For Lyme!

Light Up For Lyme is an oldie, but a goodie! Every May, a variety of buildings and landmarks recognise Lyme Disease Awareness Month by lighting up in green.

We’ve seen some really iconic landmarks take part in the past! We’re talking the Spinnaker Tower, the Kelpies, and the Blackpool Tower, to name just a few.

As well as landmarks, we also encourage outdoor organisations to light up their premises during May. Throughout the year, we provide free awareness talks to many different organisations, and it’s a lovely opportunity for them to show their support.

We’re launching this initiative some weeks before May, as many landmarks need advance warning to schedule a light up, particularly those at the top of our agenda!

If you’re one of our supporters and you would like to take part, you can contact any sort of landmark or building that has the capacity to light up, including towers, bridges, fountains, and sporting stadiums. Last year, our supporters even lit up their own houses with green fairy lights. Now there’s an idea!

If you’re looking to contact your local landmark, you may find it helpful to use the template we’ve provided at the bottom of this page to write to them. This can be copied and pasted into an email, or printed out and taken to the venue.

Please note that due to increased energy costs this year, some landmarks are no longer providing free light ups for charities. We would strongly encourage our supporters to check with the landmark from the outset whether they require any payment, as it’s very important to us as a charity that raising awareness does not cost our supporters any of their own money. We really appreciate you taking part, and this is intended to be a free campaign initiative that is accessible to all.

Once you’ve been in touch with them, please drop us an email to let us know as we’ll be keeping a list of all those who have been contacted.

Once May itself comes around, it would be wonderful if you could attend the light up at the venue! We would love to share any photos you take on our social media channels and website. This will help to raise even more awareness online! You can submit your photos to us via email.

If you would like to help raise awareness on your own social media accounts, you can also share your photos with the hashtags: #LightUpForLyme #WakeUpToLyme #LymeDiseaseAwarenessMonth

We can provide you with leaflets and tick cards to hand out at the landmark if you would like to play your part in educating the public. We can also provide fundraising buckets and selfie frames for free!

Thank you so much for your interest in taking part in Light Up For Lyme! Let’s make our 2023 campaign bigger and brighter! Let’s shine a light on Lyme disease!

Template for Contacting Landmarks

Dear,

 May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

Lyme disease is the fastest growing vector-borne disease in Northern Europe and is spread by the bite of an infected tick. Ticks are now endemic across the UK and as well as being found in woodland and heathland, they have also been found in urban parks and gardens. Lyme disease can be an insidious illness if not diagnosed and treated promptly.

Every May, Lyme Disease UK (registered charity no. 1182212) carries out a month-long ‘Wake Up To Lyme’ campaign to raise awareness of Lyme disease and how to prevent it. This year, LDUK hopes to reach many more people and to educate the public on how to prevent tick bites.

LDUK’s Light Up For Lyme campaign has been running since 2019, and during subsequent years the charity has been supported by many iconic locations, including the Spinnaker Tower, the Kelpies, Blackpool Tower, the Titan Crane, Weymouth Pavilion, and Manchester and Leeds Town Halls!

I am contacting you to see if (whatever location you are contacting) would like to join this very worthwhile campaign and #LightUpForLyme.

Any locations that support this campaign will be featured on LDUK’s social media platforms, which boast around 24,000 followers. It would be amazing if you could support this campaign.

If you would like any further information about Lyme Disease UK, you can learn more about the charity via their website: www.lymediseaseuk.com

You can also contact LDUK by sending an email to: awareness@lymediseaseuk.com

Kind regards,