Purple Day 2025

I previously blogged about how moving to Zambia has enabled me to offer my skills to local causes close to my heart. The Epilepsy Association of Zambia does amazing work, raising awareness and funds to support those affected by epilepsy - not a straightforward job as epilepsy can be very stigmatising here and not all treatments are easily accessible.

Last year, my family decided to hold a small bake sale for Purple Day - a dedicated international day for raising funds and awareness for epilepsy charities around the world. It was lovely and raised a few hundred pounds to split between Epilepsy Action UK and The Epilepsy Association of Zambia. This year however, my family wanted to go even bigger and better…

We were thrilled that multiple schools in Lusaka agreed to take part and asked students to wear purple for the day to help raise awareness. Even better, Casa Die Bambini and the American School of Lusaka sold over 300 t-shirts I designed to students to raise funds for The Epilepsy Association of Zambia.

Student at Casa Die Bambini wearing a Purple Day t-shirt I designed

Following a social media campaign, other businesses also wanted to support resulting in donations and offers to raise funds including a “Purple Cocktail” at the Gathering, a purple gym workout and a quiz night at the Villagers.

I’m so proud that we managed to raise over $2,500 for The Epilepsy Association of Zambia for Purple Day this year but even more crutially, we got people to talk about epilepsy here in Zambia. Hopefully this will help de-stigmatise and normalise epilepsy, allowing more people to access the vital medication they need.

Now time to start planning Purple Day 2026…