UK Awareness Days 2022 by alaya-benevity

2022 Awareness Days Get ahead on yearly campaign planning with our guide to approaching top awareness days

Define your Purpose Earth Day, Pride, World Mental Health Day. This mix of nationally and internationally recognised days of awareness are a useful tool for reminding us to care about important social issues year-round. And by organising campaigns inspired by significant cause days, your company will demonstrate its support of key social issues ranging from equality to sustainability to mental wellbeing. That’s why we’d like to motivate you to think about upcoming awareness days that are important to the UK market and how you can address them within your own organisation. With proper planning, you’ll be able to put together a campaign that invites employee participation by connecting throughout the year on social issues that matter. Plus, by organising something like a company volunteer day, creating a challenge-based campaign or managing a giving scheme, everyone will have a chance to make their own personal impact.

Before anything else, it’s crucial to start with purpose. Ask yourself: What is your company purpose and how can you serve this purpose through your awareness day efforts? By taking the time to align on a compelling corporate purpose, you’ll only get more of your employees on-board throughout the year to donate their time or money to relevant causes. When your purpose means something to you, your employees, and society, it becomes easy to choose the awareness days that will inspire the most engagement. And if you’re in need of some assistance, check out our step-by-step guide to defining corporate purpose. Then come back here to filter through our suggested awareness days, which includes our personal recommendations and resources for building meaningful and successful campaigns.

Follow this guide to learn how to use your own CSR campaigns to address significant awareness days that will help your employees stay engaged in goodness all year round.

Table of contents

World Cancer Day

International Women's Day

Red Nose Day

Earth Day

Pride

World Clean-up Day

World Mental Health Day

Black History Month

Movember

Giving Tuesday /Giving Season

Other awareness days to consider 3

World Cancer Day Date

Fundraising Event

Friday, February 4th, 2022

Motivate employees to take part in a company-wide walk or run to help raise funds for cancer research. By encouraging family members and friends to sponsor their participation in the event, you’ll get more people involved and

Context World Cancer Day is an internationally recognised day to raise cancer awareness and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. As this is an issue that has affected many, it’s an important

contributing to the cause.

Challenges Promote participation in the official 21 day challenges, as proposed by the World Cancer Day Organisation. This year’s challenges include closing the care gap, focusing on your own health, and eliminating cervical cancer.

day to honour the friends, family members and colleagues who are fighting against it. Resources: Learn more about World Cancer Day here.

International Women’s Day Fundraising Date Tuesday, March 8th, 2022 Context International Women’s Day is both a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and a yearly reminder of the gender inequality that still prevails today. It’s a day that has been honoured for well over a century, with the first celebration held in 1911. Show support for your female workforce by taking a stance on IWD.

IWD fundraising for a women’s charity of choice. This could include the potential to match donations or reward employees for their donations.

Challenges Challenge-based competitions centred around gender inequalities and biases. For example, challenge your employees to read a book on gender equality and discuss together - We Should All Be Feminists, Invisible Women, and The Persistance of Gender Inequality are good places to start!

Goods Collection In office goods collection for local women’s NPOs in need of supplies for vulnerable women. Learn more about how to engage your employees this Women’s Day: SEE OUR GUIDE

Red Nose Day Fundraising Date Friday, March 18th, 2022 Context Red Nose Day is an annual fundraising campaign with the mission of ending child poverty by funding programs that tackle homelessness, hunger, domestic abuse, and mental health stigma. Well-recognised by the iconic red nose, which symbolises the power of laughter and fun, Red Nose Day is one the UK’s biggest fundraising days of the year. It’s also an excellent awareness day for

Create a donation matching scheme to encourage employees to give to the cause to maximise on giving leading up to Red Nose Day.

Family-friendly Events Organise an event that encourages parents to bring their kids to work (or to an online event!) and educate them on the importance of empathy in the classroom and beyond. This could include a bake sale component to raise more funds for the cause and get parents spending quality time with their families in the kitchen.

Social Media Take advantage of the iconic Red Nose by sending all of your employees one to wear and post selfies on the day. This is a useful way to capitalise on company community, spreading joy, raising awareness, and spending a few moments of silliness together.

rallying employees around a cause that everyone can get behind. Resources: Learn more about Red Nose Day here.

Earth Day Challenges Date Friday, April 22, 2022 Context Earth Day is an annual celebration that honours the achievements of the environmental movement and raises awareness of the importance of longterm ecological sustainability. This is a significant opportunity for your company to stand-out as an environmentally friendly organisation and engage employees in activities that enable them to promote sustainability in their own lives.

Specific Earth Day themed challenges to be completed during the month of April. For example, challenge your employees to delete old emails to minimise CO2 consumption or sticking to reusable water bottles for a whole week.

Donation Drive Organise a donation drive in which every X amount of money raised, the company commits to planting X number of trees.

Education Bring in a speaker from a local NPO to discuss the importance of sustainability on the local environment. This will give your employees a bit more context as to how their personal choices affect the world around them. Learn more about how to engage your employees this Earth Day SEE OUR TOOLKIT

Pride Challenges Date The month of June 2022 Context Pride Month commemorates the ongoing pursuit of equal justice for the lesbian, gay, bixsexual, transgender, and queer community and celebrates the accomplishments of LGBTQ+ individuals. Events occur all month so look out for local celebrations, for example London Pride. Then, affirm the voices and experiences of your LGBTQ+ employees by advocating for their equality all month.

Challenge your employees to learn about and support the LGTBQ+ community by watching an educational movie or documentary on the subject, buying from and promoting LGBTQ+ owned businesses, or reading an article on the history of the LGBTQ+ community and discussing with colleagues.

Fundraising Organise a fundraiser for relevant NPOs like Stonewall, the Trevor Project, and MindOut.

Volunteering Many Pride events are run entirely by volunteers. Consider organising an event to volunteer for parades and other events throughout the month.

Learn more about how to engage your employees this Pride Month SEE OUR TOOLKIT

World Clean-up Day Clean-up event Date Saturday, September 17th, 2022 Context World Clean-up Day is a yearly reminder to stand up against the global issue of human waste by helping to clean-up our local communities. It’s the perfect motivator for organising a company clean-up event that gets employees outside and serving the greater good.

This year, World Clean-up day falls on a Saturday, but you can still organise a day out of the office on Friday the 16th to collect trash. Alternatively, you could mount a weekend event at which employees spend a few hours cleaning up a local park, inviting family members to join. Then, everyone gathers at the end for an outdoor barbeque - maybe even the last of the summer season! This is a great way to encourage employees to log volunteer hours in 2022 and could be considered part of a wider Green Month with related challenges, fundraisers, and more.

Education Challenge employees to better understand how their personal choices make an impact on the environment by bringing in a speaker from a local NPO or sharing an article on sustainability. Resources: Here are two organisations that are working globally that you can speak with to help organise clean-ups: National Clean-up Day and World Clean-up Day.

World Mental Health Day Challenges Date Monday, 10th October, 2022 with initiatives running all month

Context World Mental Health Day is an international day for global mental health education, awareness, and advocacy against social stigma. In our current climate, it’s crucial to communicate to employees the importance of mental health. By honouring World Mental Health Day, your workforce will feel they can make their own mental health a priority.

Encourage your employees to participate in challenges that promote mental wellbeing. For example, challenge them to commit to one week off of social media or going for a walk everyday after lunch for the whole month.

Donations Promote mental health by raising funds for related NPOs like BringChange2Mind, the World Federation for Mental Health, or Suicide Zero. Looking for organisations that serve your local communities is also a good way to show your employees that you care specifically about how this issue affects them.

Skills-based volunteering Consider organising a remote, group volunteering event to help related NPOs work on items such as their fiscal plans or marketing plans so they can continue doing important work. Learn more about how to engage your employees this World Mental Health Day SEE OUR TOOLKIT

Black History Month Volunteering Date The month of October Context Black History Month is an annual observance that encourages us to share, celebrate, and understand the impact of Black heritage and culture. It’s a month to elevate Black voices and celebrate the community for their contributions to society—both historically and now. Honour diversity & inclusion in your workforce by organising a campaign to commemorate this month.

Encourage your teams to volunteer for a black-owned organisation during the month. Some examples include Show Racism the Red Card, Stop Hate UK, and Black Lives Matter UK.

Host an event Elevate black voices from both within and outside of your organisations by inviting Black speakers to present on the topic of racial inequality. This is also a good moment to share Black stories, celebrate successes and promote further education.

Challenges Motivate your employees to engage in challenges throughout the month such as reading a book on racial equality or making an effort to buy from only Blackowned businesses. Learn more about how to engage your employees this Black History Month SEE OUR GUIDE

Movember Engage Date The month of November

Encourage those who can participate to grow a moustache throughout the month of November to raise awareness. Motivate the entire team to share pictures of their moustaches throughout the month to inspire further

Context

participation and awareness.

Movember is a movement that raises awareness for men’s health in relation to mental health & suicide

Sponsored event

prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. This initiative encourages those who are able to grow a moustache during the month of November in solidarity with the campaign. It’s a fun way to get your workforce involved in the

Get out there and show-off your moustaches with a sponsored walk to bring people together outside of the office. Make it mandatory for employees to donate to Movember in order to attend!

Challenges Add in a step-count challenge during the month of November: for every X number of steps achieved by employees, your company will donate X amount to Movember, for example.

conversation of men’s health, while drawing attention to the important issues at hand. Resources: Learn more about how to support the Movember movement here.

Giving Tuesday/Giving Season Gifts of Kindness Date November - December 2022 Context Giving Tuesday is the official kick-off of the Giving Season, when we’re all feeling more inspired to donate our time, money, and resources to help those in need. This is an exceedingly engaging moment to encourage employees to participate in giving campaigns, as everyone wants to do their part leading up to the holidays. Leverage your employees’ heightened interest in sharing goodness at this time of the year by organising an irresistible holidaybased initiative.

Find a local children’s home to partner with during the month of November and commit to a number of gifts that will be provided to vulnerable children and adolescents.

Giving Tuesday Celebrate Giving Tuesday by putting together a donation matching campaign that animates employees to give to a selection of charities. This could be paired with other fundraising events such as a bake sale in the office.

Kindness Calendar Create a calendar during the month of December with everyday acts of kindness to follow throughout the holiday season, perhaps leading up to your company holiday party where you can all celebrate your achievements together. Some ideas include group blood donation, goods collection of clothes to donate to an NPO of choice, goods collection of toys to donate to an NPO of choice, and matching the value of a holiday gift with a donation to charity. Learn more about how to engage your employees throughout the Giving Season SEE OUR GUIDE

Other awareness days to consider January Dry January Martin Luther King Day

March Zero Discrimination Day World Water Day World Sleep Day International Day of Happiness

May World Hypertension Day

June World Environment Day World Oceans Day World Blood Donor Day

July International Day of Friendship World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

August World Humanitarian Day

World Refugee Day World Elder Abuse Day

April World Book Day International Day of Sport World Health Day

Other awareness days to consider September

November

International Literacy Day International Translation Day International Day of Awareness of Food Loss &

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women World Children’s Day

Waste International Day of Charity World Suicide Prevention Day

International Day of Tolerance World Diabetes Day

October World Teachers’ Day World Food Day International Day of Older Persons International Non-Violence Day International Day of the Girl International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

December Human Rights Day International Volunteer Day for Economic & Social Development International Migrants Day International Human Solidarity Day International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Serve your corporate purpose this year by taking action today Are you feeling inspired to start planning an awareness day campaign? We cannot stress the importance of planning ahead when it comes to this process; the last thing you want to do is scramble to put together an event or initiative. In fact, the more time you give your employees to get excited for the campaign, the more they’ll buy into the idea and get involved. But if you’re having trouble organising initiatives of this nature, consider using a CSR platform, like Alaya, to help manage your campaigns, track impact, and connect employees all in one space. With this kind of support, you can ensure that your actions are worthwhile by reaching, engaging and inspiring all team members to serve your corporate purpose throughout the year.

Have questions? We’re here to help.