Today is about raising awareness of M.E and raising funds to go towards supporting a better quality of life for people with M.E.

This year my daughter Laura has had M.E for half her life, with 12 out of those 16 years being with Severe M.E. She has missed out on living her life out in the world, often just trying to survive each day the best she can. At Laura's poorliest she had Very Severe M.E and was unable to sit unaided, stand, tolerate any light or sound above a whisper and needed assistance with the smallest of tasks. Laura has friends all over the world who have varying severities of M.E and all are struggling to live with this cruel illness. Yet, M.E is underfunded and under researched. We need to do more to help improve the quality of life of everyone with M.E.

https://www.smileforme.org.uk/shareastorylaura/

https://www.smileforme.org.uk/shareastorysharon/

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Blue Sunday is a fundraising event for the M.E community, everyone who supports them and ME/CFS charities. It was created by Laura's lovely friend Anna Redshaw in 2013 so that people living with M.E could join in with fundraising efforts for the charities that work to support them. Today, people living with M.E all over the world will be joining in with Blue Sunday, often from their beds or homes. It has become one of Laura's favourite days of the whole year.

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Smile For ME is a wonderful charity founded by people with M.E who work to bring joy to people living with the illness and their carers. Through money raised they send Smile boxes to people affected by M.E in the hope it will brighten their day. Both Laura and I have received Smiles and they really do make a difference. Smile For ME also share stories of people living with M.E and their loved ones on their blog.