Visit us at our first Sunflower Pop-Up at the Icon Outlet at The O2 in North Greenwich during this February half-term. We're on hand from Saturday 11 February to Wednesday 15 February 2023 to hear from you in person, to raise awareness of non-visible disabilities and to promote the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower.
Think you know about dyslexia, stammering or FASD?
Meet Dayna Halliwell and the STAMMA and National FASD teams to find out more about each non-visible disability between Monday 13 February and Wednesday 15 February. Contribute to the Positive Vibes wall, get creative, giveaways, or simply have a chat, and much more!
And if your disability is not listed? Don't worry, the Sunflower team is on hand at the pop-up. So plan your visit and come and have a chat, help yourself to sweets, find out about Purple Sock Day as well as our attempt to create the world's longest lanyard and take home some sunflower seeds to grow your own sunflower! There are different in-store events planned for each day that we're open.
What's on
Do you have a non-visible disability?
Come and pick up your FREE Sunflower lanyard to get the support you need as you shop, travel, work or enjoy your days out.
While you’re here, we can help you order a personalised Sunflower card. As diverse as non-visible disabilities are, so are each person's access needs and the barriers they face in their daily lives. So if you have a hidden disability, you can opt to use a personalised Sunflower card to identify your individual access needs.
And if you want to show your support for the Sunflower and people living with non-visible disabilities, we’ll have FREE ‘I support the Sunflower’ lanyards for you on each day that the store is open.
Share your Sunflower voice
While it’s easy to feel that your story can’t possibly make a meaningful difference, the truth is that it can influence individuals and the wider community. Whether you or someone you care about is someone living with a disability and wears the Sunflower, you can empower others and encourage people to support them by sharing your experience.
Our Sunflower video booth will be up and running for five days. Here you can be the star of your own Sunflower story. Sharing your lived experience and the role the Sunflower plays in your life.
Our Sunflower wall is ready for you!
Come and immerse yourself in our Sunflower world with our wall bursting with Sunflowers! Snap a selfie or create a stunning video, upload it to your social media account and use the hashtag #BeSeenWithSunflower and you could win one of our Sunflower Bears!
Want your face painted? Sunflower faces at the weekend
If you are visiting us on Saturday 11 February or Sunday 12 February between noon and 3pm, pop-in and be transformed into your favourite animal, character or even a Sunflower! We've organised for a face painter to come along and inspire our Sunflower wearers’ imagination!
Have you got your purple socks?
Purple Sock Day is a campaign which celebrates disability inclusion, whilst supporting deaf, disabled and neurodiverse entrepreneurs.
Organised by social enterprise, Parallel, their soft and sustainable bamboo socks are made by pioneering natural activewear brand, BAM. Purple is the colour most commonly associated with disability.
50% of all sales are set aside into a Purple Sock Fund, which provides professional support to kick-start disability owned businesses and help budding disabled entrepreneurs. By buying and wearing purple socks, you are not only supporting our vibrant disabled communities, but doing good by helping our rich seam of disabled business talent.
Purple Socks are available to buy all week in the Sunflower Pop-up!
Dyslexia with Dayna
Monday 13 February 2023
"For me, I really struggle with memory and remembering information. The classics, spelling, having great ideas in my head, but just really struggling to write them down without assistance or help. But I do think dyslexia affects many areas of my life, that I've perhaps been unaware of, whether it's taking down WiFi passwords, or finding the train times.”
Come and meet Dayna Halliwell, who you may better know as Dyslexicdayna on TikTok and Instagram. Dayna is a disabled actor, writer, theatre practitioner/maker and online content creator whose work tackles political and social issues by using creative engagement on a community level. Dayna will be casting a live event on both her TikTok and Instagram channels from the Sunflower store!
My Mind is a Series of Unfinished Doodles Planner
Discover Dayna’s neurodivergent friendly planner to help with organisation, whether that’s planning your month, week, projects or making a checklist. Available to purchase in-store.
Positive vibes wall
Have you ever thought about the message you would send to your younger self? Be inspired to share the wisdom you have today on our Positive Vibes wall in-store to be featured on our social media channels and in our newsletter! You can choose to remain anonymous. Anyone that writes an inspirational message on the wall will be entered into a prize draw with the chance to win a bundle of giveaways including one of Dayna's journals.
Let's get creative
Inspire others by sharing an inspirational quote with us in-store. Dayna will then collate the day's quotes and turn them into a reel to be played on her social channels.
Other arts and crafts will also be available throughout the day.
@dyslexicdayna
@dyslexicdayna
Dyslexia is an invisible disabilty
Dyslexia is about information processing. It is a neurological difference that primarily affects reading and writing skills. Characteristic features involves difficulties with recognising speech sounds and understanding their relation to letters and words, spelling, and visual-verbal response.
Find out more about dyslexia in our invisible disability index by clicking here.
'It's how we talk' with STAMMA
Tuesday 13 February 2023
Come and join STAMMA and help us spread the love about stammering. Throughout the day we’ll be talking about what it means to be a person who stammers, how friends and family can help, and how you can be a stammering ally. We’ll have free giveaways and fun challenges, so come join us this Valentine’s Day in unit 48 at the Icon Outlet at The O2 arena.
STAMMA, also known as the British Stammering Association is the UK’s leading charity for people who stammer. They are dedicated to creating a world which makes space for stammering. We want all people who stammer to be able to reach their full potential, and not be judged or discriminated against because of the way that they speak. Here for anyone in the UK who stammers, they offer support and information for those that stammer and those around them. They're here to connect people, to support and provide information, and to advocate for and represent those who stammer.
STAMMA aims to challenge discrimination wherever they find it, helping the public to understand that stammering is not a sign of being shy, drunk, dishonest, nervous or weak. It's simply how some of us talk.
Find out more about STAMMA by clicking here.
Stammering is an invisible disabilty
Stammering is a speech and communication disorder. It usually involves prolongations and repetitions of sounds and syllables, or hesitations or blocks when trying to say words or sounds. For example, a person who stutters may know what they want to say but have trouble saying it.
Find out more about stammering in our invisible disability index by clicking here.
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD): Unique brains = unique strengths
Wednesday 15 February 2023
Pop in today and find out about FASD. FASD is brain-based, due to alcohol exposure in the womb.
So whether you’re an adult with FASD, care for someone with FASD or you’re pregnant and want to know more, National FASD is here to share information, provide guidance and answer your questions about FASD.
The National Organisation for FASD is dedicated to supporting people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), their families and communities. It promotes education for professionals and public awareness about the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
National FASD offers a source for information on FASD to the general public, press and to medical and educational professionals.
Our current programmes are focused on promoting wellbeing for those with FASD and their families, providing materials for GPs, midwives, social workers, educators and creating cutting edge resources and experiences for people with FASD.
Find out more about FASD by clicking on the links below:
Home - National FASD
Home - Learn about FASD - Me & My FASD
Home - Prevent FASD
If you or your company is looking for training, please visit https://nationalfasd.org.uk/learn-more/training/
FASD is an invisible disabilty
Dyslexia is about information processing. It is a neurological difference that primarily affects reading and writing skills. Characteristic features involves difficulties with recognising speech sounds and understanding their relation to letters and words, spelling, and visual-verbal response.
Find out more about dyslexia in our invisible disability index by clicking here.
The world's longest lanyard
We believe that the more we all understand about non-visible disabilities, the more we can help to improve the lives of people experiencing them. To raise awareness of the wide range of non-visible disabilities, chronic illnesses and conditions that Sunflower wearers experience, we need your help.
We're aiming to produce the world's longest lanyard. By naming an invisible disability with us, you'll become part of our World Record attempt!
Each disability, condition or chronic illness that that is added to our list increases the length of our lanyard and gets added onto a huge Sunflower card. We're setting our sights high and aim to have captured so many hidden disabilities that we'll produce the world's longest lanyard.
Contribute a non-visible disability to our list today.
Plan your visit
The Sunflower pop-up is located next to the Body Shop in the Icon Outlet at The 02 from the 11 February until 15 February 2023.