Awareness days
What are they and why do you need them on your social calendar?
An awareness day is a nationally or internationally recognised day, week, or month that celebrates a certain cause, such as Black History Month, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or Mental Health Week.
They’re important to add to your social media calendar because recognising them shows that you’re in touch with what’s happening in the world. It shows you care about more than just your organisation, and that you support the movements related to your cause.
Get creative!
Awareness days are important, but it takes a good few hours to sit down and find out what’s going on, and when.
I wanted to save you some time, so I’ve decided to share my list with you.
It’s categorised by month, so all you need to do is look through it and jot down which days are relevant to you.
When it comes to planning the content for each cause, get creative!
Instead of just publishing a post that says, “Happy International Women’s Day!”, create a gif or a shareable image, or something simple like this video.
Without further adieu, I present to you… a handy list of awareness days for your social media calendar.
Note: these days aren’t necessarily the same date every year, so it’s worth looking them all up again for 2020.
January
Week commencing 26th January – National Storytelling Week
February
4th February – World Cancer Day
Week commencing 4th February – Children’s Mental Health Week
Week commencing 11th February – Student volunteering week
14th February – Valentine’s Day
March
7th March – World Book Day
8th March – International Women’s Day
15th March – World Sleep Day
20th March – First Day of Spring
22nd March – World Water Day
31st March – Mother’s Day
April
5th April – Walk to Work Day
7th April – World Health Day
Week commencing 29th April – National Stationery Week
22nd April – International Mother Earth Day
May
7th May – National Teacher’s Day
Week commencing 13th May – Mental Health Awareness Week
28th May – World Hunger Day
June
8th June – World Oceans Day
Week commencing 3rd June – Massage at Work Week
14th June – World Blood Donor Day
Week commencing 17th June – Refugee Week
20th June – World Refugee Day
20th June – Nystagmus Awareness Day
Week commencing 21st June – World Wellbeing Week begins
23rd June – International Widow’s Day
Week commencing 24th June – World Food Week
26th June – United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
July
7th July – World Chocolate Day
18th July – Nelson Mandela Day
30th July – International Friendship Day/World Friendship Day
August
31st August – Islamic New Year
September
Week commencing 3rd September – Zero Waste Week
5th September – International Day of Charity
8th September – International Literacy Day
10th September – World Suicide Prevention Day
21st September – International Day of Peace
22nd September – World Car Free Day
Week commencing 23rd September – International Week of Happiness at Work
Week commencing 23rd September – Recycle Week
25th September – World School Milk Day
27th September – World Tourism Day
October
Black History Month
4th October – World Smile Day
5th October – World Teacher’s Day
11th October – International Day of the Girl
16th October – World Food Day
17th October – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
18th October – Anti-Slavery Day
November
11th November – Anti Bullying Week
13th November – World Kindness Day
19th November – International Men’s Day
20th November – International Children’s Day
25th November – 16th Days of Action Against Domestic Violence
29th November – Black Friday
December
2nd December – International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
5th December – International Volunteers Day
10th December – International Animal Rights Day
10th December – Human Rights Day
18th December – International Migrant Day
31st December – New Year’s Day
Over to you
Have I missed any? Comment below and let me know!
Eman Ismail is a UK-based copywriter and the founder of InkHouse. She works with businesses and non-profits across the world, writing marketing materials and content that increases their exposure and attracts their ideal audience.
When she’s not writing or delivering copywriting workshops, you’ll find her glued to a podcast in the corner of a cosy cafe.
I am really impressed with your writing skills and also with the
layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
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Hey! Thanks for the lovely comment. I have a web designer who used a paid theme. I’m strictly a word person who knows nothing about web design, so I leave all that to him 🙂