Go BIG this Friday

The 19th Casual Day is set to make a big impact on the lives of persons with disabilities. This year’s Go Big theme will be celebrated nationally on Friday 6 September 2013 by approximately two million South Africans who will participate by donating their R10 for the official Casual Day sticker.

Casual Day is South Africa’s foremost fundraising campaign for persons with disabilities and is the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in SA (NCPPDSA).

Casual Day has become a firm favourite on the calendar of many of South Africa’s businesses, government departments, schools and organizations rendering services to persons with disabilities. It is an excellent opportunity for corporate team building, whilst also making a contribution to one of the country’s most vulnerable sectors of society; persons with disabilities.

Some Casual Day participants will be going really big, for example, the Department of Defence has planned an airshow and tattoo at Zwartkops Airbase to which everyone is invited. Casual Day principal financial sponsor is organising an activation and hosting several disability groups at their head office. Major events are being hosted by Casual Day’s big corporate supporters’ offices, including ABSA, Airports Company of South Africa, MTN, Transnet and Liberty Life, while educational institutions like Unisa are coming to the party by raising donations for stickers on campus and hosting major events.

The rural and outlying areas of South Africa are always abuzz with excitement over Casual Day. The small town of Springbok in the Northern Cape is having a street parade and welcoming Casual Day Ride for Hope amputee cyclist Helgard Muller. The NCPPDSA’s provincial branches, called Associations for Persons with Disabilities, are each organising huge gatherings. The Free State Association for Persons with Disabilities has arranged a parade and entertainment in Bloemfontein.

“Casual Day is the most fun you can have on a working day. You will see braaing, singing and generally silly behaviour in thousands of corporate offices and schools in South Africa,” says Project Leader Celeste Vinassa. “The official sticker gives everyone the license to behave outrageously, but we can’t forget that it is all for a serious cause.”

Adds NCPPDSA National Director Therina Wentzel, “The funds raised are used to sustain an array of social and economic empowerment services. We fund projects for children with disabilities outside the formal school system, job creation and placement programmes in the field of mining, tourism, agriculture and professional services; we fund human rights and rural development programmes, transport for persons with disabilities, assistive devices and nappies, job and advocacy programmes. We run sign language development and advocacy programmes.”

The project is run in partnership with Casual Day’s national beneficiaries, including SA National Council for the Blind, Disabled People South (DPSA), SA Federation for Mental Health, Deaf Federation of SA (DeafSA), Epilepsy SA, Autism South Africa (ASA), Down Syndrome South Africa, the National Association for Persons with Cerebral Palsy (NAPCP), the South African National Deaf Association (SANDA), the National Institute for the Deaf (NID), QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA), Alzheimer’s South Africa and the South African Disability Alliance (SADA).

“All these new national beneficiaries are committed to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Apart from the services they provide to their constituencies, they are involved in advocacy and lobbying for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream society. Together with our veteran beneficiary organisations, the Casual Day beneficiaries now constitute a significant lobby group for the human rights of a diverse group of persons with a range of disabilities,” Wentzel continues.

Last year Casual Day raised R22.2 million, a ten percent year on year increase.

“We are ecstatic about the response from South Africans. With the world economy in turmoil, and a decline in funding for NGOs from corporations and government, Casual Day continues to go from strength to strength and provide invaluable support to some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” concludes Wentzel.

Donations are raised R10 at a time for a Casual Day sticker, which is distributed through the project’s various sponsors and financial partners and its network of beneficiary organisations in the field of disability.
Vinassa urges fun-loving South Africans to Go Big! “On any given day, you go to work in your power suit or your jeans and T-shirt, depending on your employer, but on Casual Day you can do your own thing as long as you do it in a big way – go out wearing your big wig, your large pants, your massive tie, your humungous moustache, your mega-tiara, your outsize pyjamas. Or you can just wear a LOT of stickers, like ten or even 20!”