Event on 31 May, 2022
May Awareness 2022
Virtual tour for #LightUpTheNight, Grill'd Unley fundraiser, #MillionsMissing and more.
#LightUpTheNight
Each year our #LightUpTheNight (LUTN) gets bigger and better.
Thank you to those who organised locations to light up.
Thank you also to our enthusiastic team of LUTN volunteers who traipsed the city with our mascot to provide a fun night on May12th, with a live tour on Instagram of Adelaide's #LightUpTheNight landmarks.
You can view the live tour on our Instagram account from the LUTN 2022 button. You may also be able to access it directly at Instagram Story. Below are some excerpts.
Click on the photos to enlarge the image.
Virtual tour
Adelaide locations
This year we welcomed the following new locations: Adelaide Riverbank Footbridge, Parliament House, Uni SA Bradley Building and SAHMRI.
We are thankful to all the the locations, including Adelaide Oval, SA Power Networks and Unley Town Hall for their ongoing support.
Photos courtesy of Krystal Rosario, Helen Piercy and Mike Musker.
Adelaide Oval, 12 May
Adelaide Riverbank Footbridge, 10-12 May
Parliament House, 10-12 May
SAHMRI, 11-12 May
SA Power Networks, all of May
Uni SA Bradley Building, 10-12 May
Unley Town Hall, 12 May
Background
#LightUpTheNight started in 2014, when 36 public buildings and landmarks lit up from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rica, USA and UK. Famous landmarks like Niagara Falls were included.
From three Australian locations lit up in 2015, the local event has continued to grow to more than 52 locations in 2022!
May12th.org.au has a list of locations lit up around Australia.
#MillionsMissing
On Thursday May12th, ME International Awareness Day, ME/CFS South Australia members caught up on Zoom to mark #MillionsMissing.
Members shared a tip of something interesting, fun or unusual, that has helped them cope with ME.
Pictured in the centre, Coralie harkened back to her cabaret days, and sang an original song about ME, accompanying herself on piano.
Grill'd Unley fundraiser
Many thanks to those who were able to support this fundraiser!
We are grateful to Grill'd Unley for promoting our organisation and for their cheque of $100.
ME/CFS SA was one of three charities Grill'd Unley supported in May.
How it works:
- Every burger equals a token, to pop in a jar for voting, in person or online.
- At the end of the month, the charity whose jar has the most tokens receives $300, 2nd and 3rd receive $100 each.
Election advocacy
This year May 12th is in the pre-election period. We have been working closely with our national body, ME/CFS Australia, to engage with the media and politicians.
Media coverage
Channel 7NEWS weather report crossed live to the SAHMRI building that was lit up blue for May12th. The segment highlighted ME/CFS and the research that SAHMRI is undertaking.
SAHMRI published our media release on their website.
Previous years
Background to May12th
In 1992, 12 May was chosen as the international awareness day for ME/CFS as it is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of public health and the founder of modern nursing, who suffered for decades with an ME/CFS-like illness.
Florence contracted what was called 'Crimean Fever' whilst serving in the Crimean War. After returning home at the age of 38, she spent the next 50 years homebound and bedridden, achieving much of her later work from the confines of her bed.
In 1995, a blue ribbon was adopted to represent ME/CFS.
Last edited: 10 June, 2022