How to Wear It Pink at school

Breast Cancer Now’s Wear It Pink day is one of the biggest fundraising events in the UK. Our vision is bold. That by 2050, everyone with breast cancer will live and live well. Get your staff and students involved and help us make change now.

Step 1: Register

First things first, you need to register for wear it pink. It’ll only take a moment and you’ll get our fabulous fundraising pack with games, decorations and much more. Only 1 person from your school needs to register. 

Want some support along the way? Our Wear It Pink team will be on hand to help with ideas, fundraising advice and any questions.

Step 2: Make sure you have the headteacher’s permission 

Have a chat with your headteacher or head of department to make sure it’s okay to hold a fundraiser at your school. Wear It Pink is primarily a dress-down day, so you will need the full support of your school leaders.

If they need more information or want to know more about us as a charity, they can give us a call on 0333 20 70 300 or email us at wearitpink@breastcancernow.org.

Step 3: Set the date

Most people will be hosting their event in October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But if that doesn’t work for you and your school, that’s totally ok. Choose a day that works for everyone and just let us know so we can support you in the best way possible. 

We know that lots of schools take part on the Friday before the half term ends to wrap up the term in a fun way for both staff and children.

Step 4: Decide on what to wear

You could organise a dress-down day, where all students are encouraged to wear pink and give a small donation – we would recommend £1 or £2.  

Make sure you work this around your school’s dress code and clothing standards and decide if students are permitted to wear fancy dress or simply pink clothing. If you can, it’s a nice idea to buy some extra pink socks for kids that forget.

Step 5: Spread the word  

Share your Wear It Pink day in any way you can. The school newsletter. Class Dojo. Daily notices and posters. Make sure to be clear about your Wear It Pink day:

• What day is it?
• What do students have to do?
• What do parents have to do?
• Make sure to include any dress regulations so nobody gets confused

If you need extra posters, you can download and print more. We absolutely love to see schools also creating their own posters for Wear It Pink day in art class. 

Step 6: Order extra materials and organise activities 

You’ll want to organise some easy and fun games to play with your students. Put together a rough schedule of when these activities will be – during assembly, during morning class or any other specified time of the day. 

You can play a sweepstake, bingo, a colouring in competition, best-dressed awards, and even hold a bake sale for the older kids. You can be as creative as you want to be with getting the students involved. Think of what you might need for each of these activities and start planning to save you any last-minute stress.

If you need extra decorations, you can download and print these at school. Alternatively, you can order them online to be delivered to your school. You can get more of anything that's in your pack, as well as lots of other new and exciting items. 

If you’re planning a bigger event where you need more support, just get in touch with us and we’ll make sure you have everything you need. 

Step 7: Send a reminder  

Send a reminder about your Wear It Pink day to parents a week before and remind students both a week and the day before the event. Remind them to wear pink and bring along a small donation, or you could share the JustGiving link with the parents. It’s a good idea to print a QR code for your JustGiving page and have this on posters placed at pick up and drop off points.  

Step 8: Wear It Pink! 

Once you’ve decorated your classroom – it’s time to Wear It Pink. You’ll be having fun whilst doing something amazing – raising money for our life-saving research and life-changing support.

Tag Breast Cancer Now on Facebook or use the hashtag #WearItPink on Instagram and TikTok. You can also send us any photos at wearitpink@breastcancernow.org. We absolutely love seeing what you got up to on the day. 

Please only send us photos of children whose parents have given permission. If you’re unable to send photos with children’s faces in, we’d love to see any fantastic creations from the day or photos of staff getting involved.