What a buzz on World Kidney Day
Fundraisers and volunteers across the UK stepped up to raise awareness of kidney disease and drum up support for the kidney cause as part of World Kidney Day this year.
Over 140 groups ran events under the World Kidney Day banner in the UK. These ensured positive health messages were shared through display stands, educational events, guess the number of ‘beans’ in a jar and various exercise-based activities. This was also the year of the kidney-themed cake!
Hospitals were a popular location for awareness stands throughout the country. At Peterborough Hospital our mascot Beanie greeted members of the public, helping showcase the work of the charity and raising vital funds for research.
World Kidney Day online
World Kidney Day also had a strong virtual presence, with support from people across world helping ensure #worldkidneyday was trending on Twitter.
We worked with our partners in the Kidney Charities Together group to reach out to people most at risk of kidney disease. Together, we released results from a survey revealing that many people with the most common risk factors for kidney disease (vascular disease, high blood pressure or diabetes) said they did not consider themselves to be at risk. Thousands of people participated in our online kidney health check after an extensive social media campaign. This encouraged people to use the health check to get an idea of whether they are at risk of developing kidney disease and if they should have their kidney function checked.
A great big thank you
"Once again our supporters have done us proud, making a huge noise to draw attention to kidney disease,” said Sally Howard, head of supporter care at Kidney Research UK. “We’d like to thank every single one of you for all your efforts on this and every day you help out the kidney cause. And we’re looking forward to all the exciting activities that will happen between now and the next World Kidney Day, on Thursday 12 March.”
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