Ditch the Label Sponsored Silence 2015 Fundraiser

Almost 1 in 2 young people who experience bullying never tell anybody and suffer in silence through embarrassment, fears of it getting worse and a lack in faith of current support systems. This means that approximately 1.43 million young people will suffer bullying in silence each year. As a result, 1 in 3 of them will self-harm and 14% will develop an eating disorder. To put that into perspective, we estimate that 471,900 of those who do not seek support will self-harm, as a direct impact of bullying.

Enough is enough. It is about time we viewed and dealt with bullying differently as a society and we are calling on you to help as many young people as possible. Today, we are launching our Sponsored Silence fundraiser, after a hugely positive campaign in 2014 and are welcoming you to take part and make a real difference.

How does it work?

On average, today you will use 4,300 words. Think you can go without them?

We want you, your friends, your family and your colleagues to challenge yourselves and ditch your voice for a day to represent those who have lost theirs in the fight against bullying.

We understand that a complete lack of communication would be incredibly difficult in the modern day and age so this is why the use of writing will be allowed. Here’s your chance to do something different for a good cause. By participating in this campaign you will be helping Ditch the Label address the fact that bullying in the UK is now at epidemic proportions and someone needs to take action.

Will that person be you?

Get involved

Getting involved in the project is easy, here’s what you need to do:

Set yourself a fundraising target so you have a goal to aim for. People are more likely to donate if they can see how much it is you are trying to raise as they can physically see how far away you are from your target.
Choose the day you’d like to go silent on between 11th-17th May.
Create a JustGiving page so that people can donate easily or use one of our fundraising forms.
Get others involved in the campaign – you will enjoy the project and be more motivated to complete it if others are in the same boat as you.
Spread the word and encourage people to sponsor you
Have fun!
When your day comes around, don’t forget to stay silent!

Why we’re doing it

To raise awareness – So that this large group of young people understand that they do not have to be afraid to speak out.
To raise £10,000 – This sum will help us to carry on our work of placing intervention services in schools and colleges, continue our online support and further build our knowledge and research of why bullying happens and how we can prevent it.

Where the money goes

> Online Support

Through Habbo, the world’s largest online teen community, we provide crucial advice and support to thousands of young people every year. Our innovative work helps, on average 7,800 people who experience bullying every year. With the general public becoming more and more reliant on the internet, a large majority of younger users have experienced cyberbullying or know someone who has. We need to keep this partnership up and running as we feel that a support system needs to be in place in close proximity to where this bullying occurs. In addition, we will also be able to fund further support materials via email and Twitter.

> Interventions

Aimed at all students, the interventions challenge prejudice and relate wider societal discrimination to bullying behaviour in the school or college community. Students become more socially aware, analytical, think more critically and are encouraged to respect the differences between people. Furthermore, interventions are designed to aid educational establishments in reaching OFSTED requirements of ensuring a safe environment in which young people respect one another and are free from harassment and bullying.

> Education and Awareness

We believe that bullying is a societal issue and is the collective responsibility of everybody.
As part of this commitment, we invest in the creation of content such as viral videos, photo campaigns, social media and PR activities to help raise public awareness for our cause and the campaigns we run.

FAQ’s

Am I allowed to write/text/Tweet?
> It is completely up to you. As a rule of thumb, we are saying yes – but if you’d prefer not to then that’s fine!

Is this for the full day?
> You can either opt to do 24 hours or 12 hours. Just specify on your page.

When can I do it?
> Whenever you like, provided it’s between 11-17th May

What happens if I accidentally talk?
> You will be cursed for eternity. Just kidding.