News

Last year we came together and spread awareness that young people are affected by rheumatic diseases across the world, and the impact this has on their lives. We were very pleased that our webinars were again well attended and supported by the international rheumatology community and were very successful. It was wonderful to see a huge variety of amazing events held across the globe arranged by patients, parents, charities, hospitals, health care professionals, doctors and nurses. It was particularly good to see many new organisations and countries join in and spread awareness for the first time. Thank you for making last year a big success!

We are now looking forward to WORD Day 2023!

We again need your support to get involved, help to spread awareness, arrange events and share the stories and experiences of our young people who live with a rheumatic disease. How you or your organisation decide to mark the day is very much down to you. We are very aware that every country, charity and organisation is unique and will have different levels of time and resources available. There is no right or wrong way to mark WORD Day and the day is for everyone to get involved in the way that suits them best.

Your charity, hospital and organisation can get involved and support the day in a number of ways…

One easy way for our charity partners and rheumatology colleagues to get involved is by being active on a variety of social media platforms. As in previous years, there will be an international social media campaign involving Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. This could involve interaction with our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages or sharing individual stories online, uploading real life examples of the challenges faced by children and using our hashtag #WORDDay2023

Please follow our campaign and interact on social media when you can. Together as a community we can create a huge social media coverage around the globe, raising awareness and highlighting the difficulties all children diagnosed with life changing rheumatic conditions face across the world.

Following on from previous years we are planning two online webinar events with an international panel of young people, parents, doctors and healthcare professionals. Further details of these events will be shared soon along with how to register for each event.

Our WORD Day resources can be found on our website www.wordday.org – including downloadable posters, leaflets and information to help charities and groups explain the aim of the day and its message of awareness.

You may want to arrange your own charity events to mark the day maybe in person or online. These could include an awareness event, a family event to bring people together or anything else you feel spreads the message that young people get rheumatic diseases and the importance of awareness.

Remember to send us any photos that you may wish us to share on our own social media channels so we can see what is happening around the world.

Everyone (organisations, companies and individuals) who contributes to WORD Day 2023 can download the Ambassador’s badge from our website and then send us an email with their logo or picture and ask to be added to the list of ambassadors on www.wordday.org

We hope you and your organisation will get involved and join us to spread the message of WORD Day 2023.

Let us come together to raise awareness for everyone across the world who has to live their childhood whilst dealing with a rheumatic disease.

Many thanks for your help and support

The WORD Day Committee