Turning Pink and Blue – raising awareness one building at a time

Would you like to be part of something amazing and help make Baby Loss Awareness Week even bigger than last year?

 

Help us approach buildings and landmarks in your region to turn pink and blue throughout 9-15 October and raise awareness of pregnancy and baby loss.

 

We have a number of useful resources including template communications to help you turn the UK pink and blue.

From Shetland to the Channel Islands many municipal buildings, hospitals, bridges and iconic landmarks have taken part in raising awareness for Baby Loss Awareness Week, including The Blackpool Tower, The Kelpies, Belfast City Hall, The BT Tower, Marble Arch, the Millennium Bridge at Gateshead, Cardiff City Hall and many others. 

See who is turning pink and blue on our Baby Loss Awareness Week map below

What you can do to get involved

1. Consider all your local landmarks

Public buildings that are lit up at night often already have the infrastructure in place. These buildings can be town halls, libraries, museums, shopping centres, hospitals, sporting stadiums or other key public areas. What about a local lighthouse, or beacon? Even your own outside lighting could change colour in support!

2. Find out who to contact

Who is the best person to write personally to, to ask for the building to be lit up pink and blue during Baby Loss Awareness Week? Is there a website? Find out the telephone number and call. Approach the appropriate department and request permission. Social media can be a great way to get in touch! You can use the template enquiry on our website as a guide to making an approach by telephone, email or letter.

3. Tell us when a building or landmark says YES!

In order to coordinate our activities, please let us know which buildings have agreed to light up for BLAW by completing our short form.

There may be deadlines for certain buildings, so if you are interested in lighting up a local landmark, start now. Don’t worry if it’s too late, and they say no, whilst you have their interest see if they will support us next year instead.

4. Share on social media

Once you know when your local landmark is lighting up pink and blue make sure as many people as possible get to see it. Does the building have its own social media or website? They will probably be keen to share the news and your local media may be interested too.

Here is a template press release with information about Baby Loss Awareness Week, for you to customise – a quick online search should reveal your local media’s contact details.

There will also be a special BLAW Pink and Blue Poster to display in your window, noticeboard or a screen to explain why you’ve lit up pink and blue this October. Stay tuned!

5. Join in at home

Whether you’ve been successful in finding a building or not, you can always join in at home. There are tons of ways to turn pink and blue…

 

Light up your garden

Whether it’s your front or back garden, a balcony or a terrace, you can go pink and blue in your own outdoor space. From tree lights to solar powered pot lights, it’s time to get creative!

 

 Light up your windows

Glowing films
We’ve got brilliant ‘glowing’ films so you can light up your own home pink and blue for Baby Loss Awareness Week using any device that can play YouTube. Instructions are included below.

Pink Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b_6HyT3MSg

Blue Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQvYA0Y0jzM

We’ve also have an easy to follow ‘how to’ guide so you can turn your own home Pink and Blue for Baby Loss Awareness Week.

Simple and easy to do, watch our video here.

 

Candles & Decorations

Pink and blue tealight holders, bunting, window decorations and more – make pink & blue your own. We’ve seen window decorations made out of pink and blue post-its and beautiful moments from pink & blue candles.

 

Dress up for the day

Something everyone can do is dress in Pink and Blue! Tell your colleagues, friends and family to dress up in Pink and Blue to help raise awareness for Baby Loss Awareness Week. From pink socks to blue hair, the choice is yours!

 

Why not make it a fundraising event? Raise money by doing something fun and creative for an hour, day or the entire week!

Turn your social media pink & blue for Baby Loss Awareness Week!
Download your free social media templates here.

Want to turn your building Pink and Blue?

We recommend contacting specialist lighting companies who will be able to advise based on the type of lights the building has.

You’ll most likely need lighting gels, an example of which can be found here.

 

For colour contrast we would recommend #79 for the blue and #113 for the pink as they will be most prominent, however this depends on the type and temperature of the lights.

 

Please ensure you order the correct type of gel required for your lighting system to avoid any complications.

Frequently asked questions

Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions. If you are still unable to answer your question please direct any enquiry to babyloss@sands.org.uk

Q: How do we let you know we are going to support this year’s week and be included in the ‘Map of Support’?

A: Complete this short form advising of your name, contact number, building name and address/location, and duration of support.

Q: How long do we need to illuminate our buildings for?

A: Ideally the whole of Baby Loss Awareness Week – 9th through to 15th October. Can also illuminate just for the 15th October, or just the hour between 19:00-20:00 on the 15th October to join in the global Wave of Light.

Q: What are the official brand colours for Baby Loss Awareness Week?

A: Pink R 239; G 129; B 178. #ef81b2 Blue R 35; G 90; B 169. #235aa9. You can also refer to BLAW Brand Guidelines

Q: What charities support Baby Loss Awareness Week?

A: We now have over 130 organisations involved in Baby Loss Awareness Week including Sands, The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, The Miscarriage Association, The Lullaby Trust, Bliss and Tommy’s. For a full list of partners please see Organisations page.

Q: We are unable to support this year, can we support Baby Loss Awareness Week next year?

A: Yes of course! Just let us know by completing this short form advising of your name, contact number, building name and address/location, and duration of support.

Q: How can I help raise awareness?

A: Once you know when your local landmark is lighting up pink and blue make sure as many people as possible get to see it. Does the building have its own social media or website? They will probably be keen to share the news and your local media may be interested too. We’ve created a template press release that has all the correct information about Baby Loss Awareness Week, for you to customise – a quick online search should reveal your local media’s contact details.

Just one request may make the difference between a no and a yes! If more than one request goes into the same venue, who knows what the power of the masses can achieve! See how else you could get involved here.
Thank you! We really can’t do this without you.

“Raising awareness one building at a time!”