How to Light it Purple
What is Light it Purple and how do I do it?
During Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month together with Pancreatic Cancer UK and other pancreatic cancer charities we will be lighting the UK purple to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. Here is a step-by-step guide of how to Light it Purple this November.
Head over to the official website purplelightsuk.org to view the map, enter your light up and view the gallery.
Step 1- Decide where you want to Light it Purple
Work out where you want to Light it Purple. This may sound obvious, but knowing who you are going to approach will keep you on track. Don’t worry it doesn’t have to be a famous landmark that lights up. Landmarks have included:
- Town halls
- Places of worship
- Shopping centres
- Statues
- Local shops and restaurants
Step 2 – Get in touch with the landmark you want to Light it Purple
You should aim to approach the landmark as early as possible as there are many other charity events taking place in November and throughout the year! Landmarks will get a lot of requests to light up, not just in purple, but many other colours which represent different causes.
A phone call is always best, you could also check the website of the landmark (if it has one) for a suitable email address.
The best person to speak to will vary depending on the building but the customer services, the operations department or the publicity department is a good place to start and they will be able to point you in the right direction. With smaller venues it will probably be the manager you need to talk to.
If you need help getting started you can use our template email/letter. It is also a good idea to make your email/letter more personal by sharing your reasons for taking part in the campaign and why it is so important to you.
What date should I ask them to light up on?
In previous years we have encouraged supporters to organise buildings and landmarks to light up on 1st November to launch Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. This also means lots of buildings all light up on the same night.
16th November is World Pancreatic Cancer Day which presents another great opportunity to light up. Some buildings are even willing to be lit up for the whole month.
Lighting up depends on availability, so any date in November would also be fantastic.
Step 3 – The landmark has agreed to Light it Purple! What do I do now?
That’s brilliant, well done!
Firstly, make sure you have all the details of the best contact at the landmark in case you have any further questions. You can also approach keep the details on file for next year.
The landmark I approached is happy to light up, but there is a cost involved or I need to supply to filters/gels, what should I do?
There are various ways landmarks light up purple, whether it is covering their existing lights with purple filters or gels or sometimes it is as simple as setting a timer as it is part of their in-built lighting system.
Lights can be hard to get to, so sometimes there are also maintenance costs involved aside from the cost of the filters/gels.
If the landmark is unable to cover the costs, which is completely understandable, then you could see whether a local business would sponsor the light up, and you could thank them publicly via your local press or social media.
If you think you can cover the costs yourself, that’s fantastic! These companies: Stage Depot and White Light Ltd can provide you with information regarding installation and costs of filter/gels.
If it is very expensive, we recommend looking at alternatives in your area. You’d be surprised by how many places and different types of venues that would be willing to get involved.
Unfortunately, funding for gels/filters is not something pancreatic cancer charities are able to contribute to.
Step 4 – Add it to the map!
Let us know by filling out this form and we will add it to our Purple Lights for pancreatic cancer map.
If you have organised the building to light up way in advance make sure you get in touch again nearer the time, just to ensure it is still fine to go ahead.
Step 5 – It’s not official unless it’s on Facebook!
Get promoting the landmark lighting up, after-all it’s an awareness campaign!
We can help you publicise your landmark lighting purple. There are various ways we can support you:
Once we’ve added the landmark to the Purple Lights for pancreatic cancer map we will promote your light up on participating charities social media pages.
If you post your photos on social media, use #PurpleLightsUK so we can share them with our followers.
Email us pictures of your light up and we can add them to our gallery.
Step 6 – The night
If you can make it on the night it’s a great opportunity to take some photos to help promote it and it’s nice to see your hard work pay off!
What should I do on the night?
It would be wonderful if you could attend the lighting up of your landmark so you can take a photo (it gets dark early in November so you should be able to go along from 4/5PM).
Don’t forget to share your photos with us on social media using #PurpleLightsUK.
You can also order some awareness materials from us so that you can inform passers-by as to why the landmark is lighting purple and about pancreatic cancer.
Case study – Light it Up like Lorna
Every year Lorna Taylor from Scotland helps to get more and more buildings light up purple for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
Lo
rna tells us in her own words why she gets involved and how she encourages local landmarks to take part:
I have got involved with turning buildings purple as I am passionate about getting awareness out there for pancreatic cancer. To get buildings turn purple I contact the venue that I would like to turn purple, and then explain what I am after and could they please give me the email address who would deal with this request. I have found if you just send to their enquiries email more often it is not for the correct person so better to check who would actually deal with lighting requests first. I then email them and follow it up in few days later asking if they received the email. They would normally tell me then if they can light up or not.
