Happy Purple Tuesday

Happy Purple Tuesday 💜    

On November 4th, 2025, we celebrate Purple Tuesday. Purple Tuesday is a social movement that collaborates with businesses in the UK and around the world to raise awareness about improving the experience of disabled customers and promoting accessibility and inclusivity.   

Purple Tuesday was founded by Mike Adams, as he and the team at the Purple Tuesday organisation work hard to change conversations around disability inclusion. This movement aims to prevent accessibility from being “merely a box to tick for businesses”, and instead make it an integral part of customer service and brand culture. This is important, as it acknowledges that people with disabilities are not only equal members of society but also powerful consumers.   

24% of the UK population has a disability, which is why it is vital for businesses and institutions to take part in making sure they are accessible; otherwise, they could be missing out on customers, just because their storefront or website is not accessible to people with a disability.   

Key facts about Purple Tuesday   

• Began in 2018 in the UK and has since become international   

• Celebrated every year on the first Tuesday in November  

• The movement focuses on long-lasting change rather than one-off gestures (such as Curry’s having a quiet hour for neurodivergent customers)   

•  The name originates from its association with the Purple Pound - the spending power of people with disabilities and their families (the Purple Pound amounts to £274 billion per year, and firms with little accessibility lose up to around £2 billion per month of potential revenue)  
   

As a person with a disability, Purple Tuesday is important to me because it highlights the significance people who are disabled have, and with every Purple Tuesday that happens yearly, change happens, and shopping becomes more accessible and fairer for every person who is disabled.  

To celebrate Purple Tuesday, as a university, we are wearing purple. To ensure you participate, remember to wear something purple on the 4th of November.  

If you are a disabled student and have any suggestions on how the university can improve its accessibility, please let the Students’ Union know by contacting surepresentation@bnu.ac.uk.   

It is also important to note the services available for disabled students, such as the Disability and Inclusion Department (contact is inclusion@bnu.ac.uk), to ensure you have all the assistance you need to thrive in university, as well as the SU Advice Centre (contact at suadvice@bnu.ac.uk) and counselling (contact at counselling@bnu.ac.uk) to support you during your time at university.  

Happy Purple Tuesday, everyone!   

“Freya Carson – Student Voice Officer”