PTSD UK Every Day for a Month Challenge 2023
They say it takes 21 days to form a habit – so we’ve created this ‘Every Day for a Month Challenge’ for 2023 to help support you AND you can raise awareness of PTSD & C-PTSD, AND fundraise for PTSD UK at the same time!
From running a 5km every day, committing to a daily journaling session or calling a different friend each day, whatever your challenge is, it can help support you to find good habits that can help if you are affected by PTSD or C-PTSD. Also, if you decide to set up a fundraiser for PTSD UK and ask your friends and family to sponsor you to complete your challenge, you will be making a genuine difference to those who need our support too.
Why should I support PTSD UK?
PTSD UK is the only charity in the UK dedicated to raising awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – no matter the trauma that caused it. We believe that supportive and reliable knowledge really is power when it comes to PTSD & C-PTSD. If you understand the types of trauma that can cause PTSD & C-PTSD, the physical, mental and emotional symptoms that are experienced, and, most importantly, the treatments that can help you, then you’ll be able to start down the path to recovery when you’re ready.
Your fundraising and donations, big or small, let us do work that is truly life-changing for people affected by PTSD and C-PTSD. Thank you. Our ability to fulfil our mission, and expand our reach to find those who need us, depends on the generosity and dedication of people like you taking on challenges like this one! Of course, if you’d like to take on the PTSD UK Every Day for a Month Challenge without fundraising, that’s ok!
I’m in! So what now?
This challenge has been designed to be flexible and as inclusive as possible, and so there is no official ‘sign up’ process. You decide what you do, when you do it and how you go about it. To get started, simply decide what you want your daily challenge to be. It might be something tough, fun, or you might choose to do this challenge to actually help support you if you have PTSD or C-PTSD (such as giving you the motivation to create a daily practice of yoga, meditation or something else you find helps to ease your symptoms).
Maybe you’ll…
- Find one notable positive thing in every day and write it down
- Read a chapter of a book each day
- Commit to journaling your thoughts and feelings each day before bed
- Do an online yoga class each day
- Do 20 press ups every day
- Run 5km every day
- Meditate for 5 minutes each day
- Take a cold shower for 1 minute each day
- Reach out to a friend for a chat each day
It’s up to you if your daily challenge is short and sweet, or takes considerable effort – but remember this is about helping you to build good habits to support you too.
Then, once you’ve decided what challenge you want to do, you can set up your fundraiser (if you’d like to!). How you raise and collect this money is up to you – you could set up a fundraising page on an online platform such as Facebook Fundraisers, GiveAsYouLive Donate, Total Giving, or Just Giving. They help you see your fundraising total, make it easy for your sponsors to add Gift Aid to their donations, and the money raised will get sent straight to us. Please do send us a link to your page when you have a moment too!
Alternatively, or in addition, if you’d like to raise funds offline we’ve got sponsorship forms which might be of use, or if you collect cash donations, you can find out how to pay them into us here.
One other option for fundraising is corporate sponsorship. This is where a company or business sponsors you by way of a financial donation, or in equipment you may need to do your challenge (like running shoes, walking books or printing costs for posters). How you go about approaching these companies is up to you (local businesses are always a great way to start!) but we’ve got a letter template on our website that you can adjust and send to companies which might help get you started. You can find that here.
I want to go BIG!
If you want to go big, and follow in the footsteps of legendary PTSD UK Supporter Mike Lamb and walk 10km every day for a YEAR, then why not string your monthly challenges together! You could do a different monthly challenge for the 12 months, or one big challenge for a year!
Tell us all about it!
Whatever challenge you want to take on, we’d love to hear about it, so please drop us an email or tag us in your social media posts (@PTSDUKCharity on Facebook and @ptsd_uk on Instagram). We’ve also got some social media images you can download and use, and a cover photo for any online fundraisers you’re doing – simply right click and ‘save as’ on a desktop computer on the images below, or press and hold to save on mobile to use them.
You may not realise it, but what you’re doing is incredible! And the world wants to know! If you feel comfortable sharing your story, you can use our press release template to let local newspapers, radio stations and even TV shows know about what you’re doing and why you’re supporting PTSD UK. Not only can this provide a boost to your fundraising target, it massively helps with raising awareness.
How will your support help PTSD UK
Thank you for your support, your fundraising will let us continue our work that is truly life-changing for people affected by PTSD and C-PTSD such as:
- Raising Awareness and being a voice for people with PTSD We produce and distribute supportive, reliable, high-quality and easy to understand resources, tools and information which are all backed by science and research. These help everyone (including Government, Medical professionals and the general public) understand the causes, symptoms and treatments available for PTSD with the hope that people will be more understanding and informed, and know more about the daily reality of living with PTSD. We also work with the media (reviewing and informing scripts etc) to ensure accurate, non-stereotypical and informed portrayal of PTSD in films, radio and television and have already collaborated with script writers from a variety of different productions including ITV’s Emmerdale, a number of BBC dramas and documentaries, and a new Warner Bros International film.
- Provide resources to help empower those who need hope We support and hope to empower people affected by PTSD (along with their friends, family and carers) by providing knowledge, lived-experiences and resources to help them reach out for help, take control of their diagnosis, access the support and care they are entitled to, make informed choices, all to lead towards successful, sustained treatment and recovery for them or their loved one. Tomorrow CAN be a new day.
- Listening Whether someone simply needs to offload their thoughts, direction on how to get help, or just know that they are not alone, we are here to provide resources and a warm welcome (even over email!) with compassion, experience, and hope that Tomorrow can be a new day.
- Improving Services and support We have experienced, and recognise the gaps in the current service provisions for people with PTSD in the UK, so we work with, and campaign to, the Government, organisations, policies and guidelines relating to the care and awareness of those with PTSD, ensuring that we’re all driving towards the same goal – that PTSD is recognised, diagnosed and effectively treated as quickly as possible for everyone.
- Research We promote, undertake and collate research that can answer vital questions about PTSD and how people affected can be supported, and how treatments and care can be evaluated, improved and be made more accessible.
- Sharing the knowledge Our resources are used by a variety of health professionals, organisations and other charities – we want the knowledge about PTSD to be as far reaching as possible so we always offer interviews and case studies to media outlets, research papers and projects where possible. Our information and resources are referenced by a variety of organisations and publications including The Economist, BBC, ITV, The Independent, Women’s Health, CNN, Huffington Post, The Metro, The Week and The Big Issue.
- Reaching Out We don’t expect people just to find us – sometimes, we need to go to them. We reach out and establish links with high-risk communities across the UK such as the Emergency Services, Rape Crisis Centres, and Victim Support Services along with other charities which support people who are at risk of PTSD such as parents of children with disabilities.
Thank you for all your support – and do let us know what challenge you choose to take on! We’ll be behind you every step of the way!
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Treatments for PTSD
It is possible for PTSD to be successfully treated many years after the traumatic event occurred, which means it is never too late to seek help. For some, the first step may be watchful waiting, then exploring therapeutic options such as individual or group therapy – but the main treatment options in the UK are psychological treatments such as Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprogramming (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Traumatic events can be very difficult to come to terms with, but confronting and understanding your feelings and seeking professional help is often the only way of effectively treating PTSD. You can find out more in the links below, or here.