Give It Up for Veterans

The most important detox you’ll ever take part in!

On average, most adults spend 40 hours a week on their phones – that’s longer than we spend working, eating or socialising!

We’re calling on you to challenge yourself by giving up technology. You can join in when you like for as long as you like. Is your willpower up to the challenge?

If that doesn’t seem like much of a challenge you don’t have to stop at technology; you can Give Up anything you choose! How long you Give It Up for is up to you – a day? A weekend? The whole month?

Take part in Give it Up for Veterans to raise urgently needed funds for ex-Service men and women who have lost their sight. You can sign up individually or refer a friend or family member to abstain from anything you like...

Register to Give it Up

How to Give it Up

  1. Choose your vice! Pick something that will be a challenge to live without, it’s no good choosing to give up meat if you are already vegetarian (we’re watching you, you little tinker).

  2. Set up your fundraising page! It’s quick and easy and is the best way to get people to sponsor you for being a quitter.

  3. Nominate others! Don’t suffer alone, take to social media and publicly nominate three friends to Give It Up with you.

  4. Give It Up! Document your journey and let others know how you are doing as you embark on the morally superior road of being a quitter.

Sending your money in

Things you can Give Up

  • Digital: reasons to Give Up

    1. Phones help us feel connected to the world – but can you imagine having no one to turn to, online or otherwise.

    2. We know that tens of thousands of ex-service men and women around the nation experience not only the effects of sight loss, but isolation too.

    3. Every minute you spend away from your phone will help us to reconnect them with their communities, and support them to rebuild their lives after losing their sight.

    4. 1 in 5: One in five adults say they spend more than 40 hours a week online.

    5. 56/2.5: The average couple spends over 56 hours a week on their digital devices and less than 2.5 hours doing 'anything' together.

  • Plastic: reasons to Give Up

    1. Give up plastic for a week and do your bit for Mother Earth as well as Blind Veterans. In recent years the UK’s awareness of plastic waste has increased significantly and we are now taking steps to minimise our plastic use, could you go a step further and eliminate it altogether?

    2. Plastic bags take between 500 and 1000 years to decompose in landfill.

    3. By 2050 it is estimated that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

  • Talking: reasons to Give Up

    1. Keep it zipped for 24 hours and experience first-hand what it is like to lose one of your five senses.

    2. Research shows that most individuals spend 60% of their conversation time talking about themselves. This number jumps to 80% while conversing on social media.

    3. An average women use 13,000 more words a day than men.

  • Caffeine: reasons to Give Up

    1. Give up your daily coffee fix and find new ways to fire up your morning.

    2. Caffeine can mimic the effects of stress by raising blood pressure and heart rate.

    3. People in the UK drink 70 million cups of coffee a day and 165 million cups of tea.

Still not sure? Think about something you do or use every day that you couldn't imagine living without if it were taken away – Chocolate? Driving? Swearing? Shopping? The possibilities are endless!

Ready to become a quitter? We’ll be with you every step of the way. By Giving It Up for Veterans you are helping us rebuild lives after sight loss. In return we promise;

  • All the materials you need to kick start your fundraising including posters, social media tools (the irony isn’t lost on us!)  and the chance to order any extra materials you may need.
  • Hints and tips on how to Give It Up successfully.
  • An introduction to your local fundraising team who are hand to help with anything you may need.
Register to Give it Up for Veterans

How can we help you

Ken smiling and laughing with his volunteer supporter Liam as they walk down the street
Your support means everything

Look at how donations have transformed the lives of our veterans.
Fundraising help

From setting up your fundraising page to spreading the word.
Paws for questions?

Get your final questions answered by our FAQs so you can get started.