Blue Sunday is a fundraising event for the ME/CFS community, their allies, and the ME/CFS charities who support them. Created in 2013 by Anna Redshaw, it moulds an inclusive fundraising event around her ill health and the restrictions that ME/CFS placed upon her life and the lives of the ME/CFS community.

The Tea Party For M.E.came about after Anna was too unwell to celebrate her birthday in November 2012. As she was unable to mark the occasion in ways she had before, Anna asked her family and friends to join her for a virtual party, posting photos and videos of themselves raising a mug of tea and enjoying a slice of cake. It felt so wonderful to feel connected with her loved ones when she was unable to leave the house or have any visitors.

As M.E. Awareness month (May) was approaching in 2013, Anna started to feel that something was needed to commemorate it. It seemed wrong that there was nothing that people with ME/CFS could participate in. So, she had a go at changing that.

As someone with ME/CFS who is so restricted by ill health, the ‘conventional’ methods of fundraising, such as doing a sponsored run, weren’t at all appropriate. The success of her virtual birthday party had Anna hoping she could do the same again as a fundraising event.

So, the Blue Sunday tea party was born. (The name ‘Blue Sunday’ came about completely by chance from a title of a blog post Anna made after the first Tea Party For M.E in 2013.) She invited friends and family to join her online again, only this time Anna was well enough to have a select few join her in-person, for afternoon tea. She asked for small donations of the price people would expect to pay for a pot of tea and a slice of cake in a coffee shop.

She uploaded photos and videos of her little event to social media so that even those stuck in bed on the other side of the world could feel included.

Over the years, the event has raised many thousands of pounds for M.E. causes round the world.