Casual Day reaches milestone

The theme of Bring the Bling was announced at Gallagher Estate on 7 March during the project’s award ceremony.

Project leader Celeste Vinassa said, “To celebrate Casual Day’s 20th birthday we are inspiring South Africans to dress up, not down. We hope that organisations and corporations will start planning their campaign soon as it takes the entire year for the Casual Day ‘train’ to roll out.”

Vinassa said the colour for the year was ‘dazzle blue’, a dramatic colour relating to the world of the theatre. She said, “So our message to you is to rustle up a little razzle dazzle. Casual Day is all about fantasy and dressing up in things you can find around the house. Be creative with glitter, fabric, shiny paper, sequins or just wear your sticker and a posh, casual attitude.”

Casual Day, sponsored by the Edcon Group, has been the flagship project of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa for the past 19 years. Casual Day has helped the council to fulfil its mandate of creating an inclusive society for all, raising almost R195 million.

At the awards ceremony, wheelchair tennis superstar Lucas Sithole was among the speakers. He lost both his legs and most of his right arm when he fell under a train when he was 12 years old, only to become the first South African to win a title at the US Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships.

Casual Day project team chairperson and executive committee member of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa Mac Mia said, “Casual Day was not built by one individual, it is a collective effort of which we can all be proud. Casual Day was built, one sticker at a time, by everyone who participated over the last 19 years.”

The audience was made up of the project’s beneficiaries and participants.

Details: www.casualday.co.za