Welcome to the Purple Ribbon Campaign, UK!

 

The Purple Ribbon Campaign was founded in 2005 by Emily Wiener, then a high school student in Toronto. Wanting to break the stigma and end the constant sensationalizing of eating disorders, Emily began selling purple awareness ribbons in her school during Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and sending the proceeds to a local charity which supports people in their recovery from eating disorders.

 

Since then, the campaign has spread around the world, and now supports organizations in several communities. In the UK, donations and proceeds from the sales of purple ribbons go to b-eat, a national charity which runs numerous support groups, an online self help network, and provides information and resources about eating disorders. They have a simple vision: Eating Disorders Will Be Beaten.

 

Why is this so important?
Many people, when asked to buy a purple ribbon, say, "but why raise money for people with eating disorders? Why not raise money for something more useful/a more serious illness?" Their statement is precisely why the Puple Ribbon Campaign exists: despite being very serious illnesses, eating disorders are not recognized as such. Eating disorders are mental illnesses with very severe consequences. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate (an estimated 18-20%) of any mental illness, and the annual death rate associated with anorexia is more than 12 times higher than the annual death rate due to all other causes combined for females between 15 and 24 years old. In the UK, eating disorders affect approximately 1.6 million people - that's the size of a medium-sized city! Recovery from an eating disorder is very difficult, but it is also very possible, and b-eat provides exremely important services for people affected by eating disorders.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for b-eat.

 

Your donations go a long way - for example, £500 enables b-eat to set up two self-help groups to support and advise people with eating disorders and their families. By asking everybody at your school, college, workplace, or university to donate just £1, you could help hundreds of people recover from eating disorders!

 

Please give generously - no amount is too little or too much.