World Cerebral Palsy Day
World Cerebral Palsy Day (World CP Day) is on October 6 and is active in over 75 countries every year. It is a movement that celebrates individuals living with cerebral palsy. The movement was created to ensure that children and adults with Cerebral Palsy (CP) have the same rights, access, and opportunities as everyone else in society.
Anyone is welcome to participate in World CP Day including people with or without CP. We encourage coaches, athletes, performance partners, referees, classifiers, staff members, fans, family members, friends, and anyone else to participate in this fun event held annually. People have shown their allyship for the movement in posting about CP on social media, wearing green, using the hashtags, spreading awareness and participating in physical activity with the intention of recognizing the campaigns #MillionsofReasons, #MakeYourMark, and #GoGreen4CP.
What is World Cerebral Palsy Day?
World Cerebral Palsy Day (World CP Day) is on October 6 and is active in over 75 countries every year. It is a movement that celebrates individuals living with cerebral palsy. The movement was created to ensure that children and adults with Cerebral Palsy (CP) have the same rights, access, and opportunities as everyone else in society.
Anyone is welcome to participate in World CP Day including people with or without CP. We encourage coaches, athletes, performance partners, referees, classifiers, staff members, fans, family members, friends, and anyone else to participate in this fun event held annually. People have shown their allyship for the movement in posting about CP on social media, wearing green, using the hashtags, spreading awareness and participating in physical activity with the intention of recognizing the campaigns #MillionsofReasons, #MakeYourMark, and #GoGreen4CP.
World CP Day Campaigns
Every year, World CP Day tokens a different name for their campaign. In previous years, it has been #Green4CPDay, #MoveAsOne and #AMillionReasons. Learn more about all the campaigns for World Cerebral Palsy Day.
“Green for CP Day” was celebrated by people across the world through hosting a green event, wearing green, decorating with green, and lighting up landmarks in green in solidarity for World CP Day. In 2019, the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA) lit up the Montréal Olympic Stadium tower in green and made green World CP Day t-shirts for the National Boccia Training Squad.
“Move as One” was the campaign in 2020 geared towards being physically active with or for people with CP. Everyone was inventive in ways that they moved on and in the lead up to October 6. In 2020, the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA) lit up the Montréal Olympic Stadium tower in green and provided World CP Day buffs and tshirts to the provincial partners where the athletes took pictures at training.
The campaign in 2021, "Millions of Reasons", was all about educating people about cerebral palsy. The Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association (CCPSA) lit up the Montréal Olympic Stadium tower in green, lit up the CN Tower in green, created infographics that were distributed around the INS Québec, and posted facts about cerebral palsy on their pages.
Most Recently
The "Millions of Reasons" Campaign continued into 2022. It is focused on hearing the voices of millions of people with cerebral palsy worldwide and educating the public about the condition. The goal is to form a sense of community by bringing together those that are affected by cerebral palsy, and to encourage the disability community to submit their life changing ideas for inclusive tech developments.
In 2022, CCPSA took its own spin on the “Millions of Reasons” campaign by using accessible technology (i.e., QR Code) that was already tech-approved to collect more pictures of people celebrating this special day in green. There were photos taken of the Board of Directors in the “I am here / Je suis là" t-shirts at the National Training Centre and other staff as well.
We have decided to shift our focus in 2023 on Take the Shot (Paris Edition) and we will revisit World CP Day activation at a later date.
How Do You Show Your Support?
The key is to talk about cerebral palsy, educate yourself, enact change, understand accessibility, and join in on the fun! Send us pictures of you celebrating World Cerebral Palsy Day or tag our social media handles below. You may see yourself on our CCPSA social media, the CPISRA social media, or even World CP Day’s pages!