Wear it Blue

Talk to the staff at your school or nursery to get permission to hold a Wear it Blue fundraiser. Wear it Blue is primarily a dress down day, so you will need the full support of your school leaders.

Choose a day that works for everyone, doing your best to avoid religious festivals and other holidays which might clash.

Email f[email protected] to tell us the named contact, school name, the date
of your event, and what you have planned. Only one person from the school needs to register.

You’ll need to read and agree to our Fundraising Terms & Conditions  before you get started.

Most schools choose to do a dress-down day where all students are encouraged to wear something blue and give a small donation to do so – we would recommend £1 or £2. Make sure you work this around your school’s dress code and clothing standards and decide if students are permitted to wear fancy dress or simply blue clothing.

The easiest way to do this is by sharing about Wear It Blue Day in the school newsletter, class dojo, daily notices, posters around the school, or however you normally communicate with parents and carers.

Try to be really clear on what Wear It Blue Day is – what day is it? What do students have to do? What do parents have to do? Make sure to include any dress regulations so nobody gets confused.

You may want to organise some extra activities with your students. You could play a sweepstake, bingo, a blue colour run, a colouring-in competition, best-dressed awards, and even a bake sale for the older kids.

How will you raise awareness of cleft lip and palate as part of your Wear it Blue event?

Send a reminder about Wear It Blue Day home to the parents a week before and remind the children both a week before and the day before the event. Remind them to wear blue and bring along a small donation, or, if you’d prefer, create an online giving page and share this link with parents and carers.

It’s a good idea to print a QR code for your JustGiving page, and have this on posters placed at pick-up and drop-off points.

It’s time to Wear it Blue! Celebrate your efforts by having a fun day and knowing that you’re raising money for a worthy cause.

We love seeing what you get up to on your Wear It Blue Day, so please send any photos to [email protected].

Remember to only send photos of children whose parents have given explicit consent for these photos to be used on CLAPA’s website and social media platforms.

First things first, you need to register for Wear it Blue. Please email [email protected] to let us know what you have planned, and when and where it will take place.

Make sure you’re read and agreed to our Fundraising Terms & Conditions before getting started to keep everything safe and legal.

A lot of people choose to host their event in their homes as this is easy and free, and you can take your time with any preparations.

If this won’t work for you, then there are lots of other places you can host an event. Do you have a local place of worship, community or sports centre, park or public outdoor area?

Wherever you decide to host your event, the first thing you need to do is to get the proper permissions. If it’s a hall or event space, you’ll probably need to book it in advance. If the location is outdoors, you’ll need to speak to your local council for permission.

The great thing about having an event in your community is that you can be a little more creative with your theme. You can turn your Wear It Blue event into a pamper night, movie night, coffee morning or brunch – get creative and think about the people you’re inviting and what they’d like.

If it’s a private event with just friends and family, send out an invite to ensure everyone has it in their diaries. Generally, you want to give people as much notice as possible!

Set up an online fundraising page and share it in your invites to get people excited and inspired.

Your online giving page is also a brilliant space to share a little more about why you’re holding a Wear It Blue event.

If it‘s a public event, put up posters on any local notice boards, and ask local businesses if they’ll let you display a poster in their window. You can also share in local Facebook or WhatsApp groups.

Ask local shops and businesses if they want to donate a prize or food for your fundraiser. Tell them about your fundraiser for CLAPA.

Don’t be disheartened if they say no; sometimes it’s not in their control and it’s always worth trying. CLAPA can help with this by sending you a letter of authority.

Secondly, ask your family or friends to help by baking cakes and treats, bringing along some snacks or organising the music. People love to get involved, and bake sales are always a big money-maker.

Decide what exciting fundraising activities you want to do on the day. There are so many things you could do: bake sales (big money makers!), cake awards, sweepstakes, bingo, raffles, tombola, a best outfit competition and anything else you can think of.

Don’t panic – this is optional! However, it’s nice for your guests to hear a little bit of your story and why you’re supporting CLAPA, as well as raising awareness about cleft.

If a speech isn’t your cup of tea, how about sharing a little on social media about why you’re holding your event?

Remind everyone around a week before your event, and another the day before, to ask your friends and family to wear something blue, sharing your online giving link for them to donate.

This is such an important step, as it will also help you to anticipate how many people are coming to your event.