About me
My name is Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford and I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2007 and have since had numerous operations leaving me with an internal pouch, constructed from my own small intestine and now battle a newly recognised form of IBD, pouchitis.
I work for a marketing company, heading up a team that manages the online presence for companies. 'Brighter Directions' is a big supporter of Crohn's & Colitis UK as our MD has Crohn's Disease and each year we do a fundraising event for the charity.
The campaign
So, off the back of the #NoMakesUpSelfie social media campaign I decided to try and raise awareness of something much more personal to me and altogether more suitable for raising awareness of severe health conditions.
I saw a post in a Facebook group by Gem Willingham. Gem had set up a Just Giving page trying to raise money for Crohn's & Colitis UK within her circle of family and friends. What a fab idea! I'm getting in on this action!
On 23rd March, I uploaded a picture of my belly in aid of raising awareness of IBD and 'nominated' some friends to do the same. We hadn't gotten very far before a disagreement about fundraising broke out in a Facebook group. With Gem disheartened I saw a post of her giving up the fundraising!
Well I can't be having that now can I? I've got a taste for this raising awareness lark! So with Gem's spirit beside me I set off to do some awareness raising of my own.
I set up a Just Giving fundraising page (IBDAwareness) and the text code IBDA99 (Inflammatory Bowel Disease Awareness - in case you were wondering) so I could now receive donations by text message, all of which go to Crohn's & Colitis UK.
I shared my belly picture the IBD Facebook groups that I am a member of and on my Twitter (@Sahara88uk) all the while urging people to donate. I'm pretty sure it was after only one Tweet or two that up popped Victoria (@colitisandme).
I hadn't got as far as considering what my plan of action was but here she was, offering a helping hand. I would probably have gone down the usual social media route of sharing the pictures, tagging on to conversations of people talking about IBD on Twitter and sharing the idea in a few forums.
Initially the plan had been to just get the idea out there and let people run with it themselves whilst hopefully donating a bit of money to charity along the way.
Then Victoria came up with the hashtag #GetYourBellyOut and now we can track and we did, for the whole evening whilst tweeting away and discussing what to do next until the early hours of the morning.
We were beside ourselves the next day to see that we had raised a whole £88 for charity! The updates from people sharing their belly pictures, being brave and baring all to raise awareness of this invisible illness made me so proud to be a part of!
And THAT is where it all began. We soon had Gem back on board who was closely followed by Lorna and Kay (@ChaosKay). Gem and Lorna both have Crohn's Disease and Victoria and Kay have Ulcerative Colitis.
Despite struggling through the daily battle of living with IBD we have all fought on with the #GetYourBellyOut campaign and have helped so many IBD patients come together with a common cause in mind: A cure for IBD and to tell people about what it's like to have Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
We've had bellies galore, over 30 blogs written about the campaign, 2 YouTube videos with 2 more on the way. Even some celebrity bellies including sports presenter Kay Murray (@KayLMurray) and recent World Champion Powerlifter and Crohn's sufferer, Ali Jawad (@AliJawad12) who dedicated his gold medal to the IBD community!
We are currently promoting group belly shots, who can get the most bellies in a picture. Of course I roped in some of the guys at work for this particular challenge!
The strength and spirit of the online Crohn's and Colitis community has been inspiring! I have cried with pride AND sadness as I've seen update after update from people who now no longer feel alone in their battle with IBD.
The campaign has gone from strength to strength and we plan to do another Twitter takeover this Saturday, 12th April with a theme of uploading images you relate to IBD. I think it will be interesting to see what non sufferers perceive as 'IBD related'!
What started out as a campaign to raise awareness of an invisible illness that so many people suffer with in silence has turned in to a campaign of INSPIRATION and UNITY!
I don't know how long we have left until we run out of steam so I am going to make the most of every minute of the #GetYourBelly out campaign that we have left and enjoy the hoards of lovely bellies being liked and shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Maybe we haven't succeeded in raising awareness to those outside the IBD community and maybe no more people care now than those that did before (which is what I suspect).
BUT what we have done is give people with IBD a voice. A confidence they did not know they could find within themselves and I'll tell you something, I sure as hell feel better!
I would just like to say a great big THANK YOU to all of the amazing people who have supported the campaign so far. This has been an amazingly satisfying and very emotional journey for me!
Get involved
The only criteria you need to join in with the campaign is a willingness to raise awareness of IBD!
Upload your belly pics with the hashtag #GetYourBellyOut and text IBDA99 and your donation amount to 70070
.e.g. If you wanted to donate £3 you would text: IBDA99 £3 and send it to 70070.
Please also support us via social media:
- Like our Facebook Page
- Join our Facebook group
- Follow us on Twitter
I would like to leave you with my recent #GetYourBellyOut Google image search and remember… YOU ARE NEVER FIGHTING THIS BATTLE ALONE!
