Awareness day round-up!
We are so grateful and proud of our community members for helping ensure PANS PANDAS Awareness Day 2026 was the best yet.
“International PANS PANDAS Awareness Day is a moment to reflect on how far we have come in the UK and across the world; recognising that by working together we can continue to build understanding, improve care, and create meaningful change for everyone affected by PANS and PANDAS.” – Vicky Burford, our CEO.
This article celebrates just some of the amazing things you all achieved:
Lighting landmarks across the country
Pictured here is 10-year-old Albie, whose brother has PANS. Albie has written hundreds of letters to public figures over the past few years, helping to raise awareness. One of his most recent letters included asking the people behind the London Eye to join the #LightUp4PANS campaign. Not only did they agree to light the landmark in green, they invited Albie to London to press the all-important big button!
The local BBC news team captured the moment, quoting Albie in their article:
“Seeing the London Eye turn green was amazing. It made me feel like people were finally listening. When the lights turned on, I hoped it meant things were changing for children with PANS and PANDAS.”
Many of you got in touch with your local councils, leading to 28 landmarks being lit in green across the UK and Ireland, adding to the grand total of 330 landmarks across the globe – that’s 100 more than in 2025! We are so grateful to all of you.
It wasn’t just landmarks that ‘wore’ green! More than 1,300 of you joined our ‘Wear green with Glitch’ campaign, dressing in green on the big day to raise awareness at school, work and at home.
Check out this green gallery to see what our amazing community got up to,and please share your photos with us at: info@panspandasuk.org
Sharing your powerful community voice
We created and shared community voice videos, every hour – on the hour! Thank you to the parents and youth board members who shared personal anecdotes and messages of hope and courage, whilst also imploring medical experts to listen and learn. To hear these wise words, visit our social media platforms. The videos are easiest to find on Instagram, where you can visit our profile to see all the videos in one place.
Three conferences, in three days!
We will be sharing much more information about our conference soon, including presentation recordings and testimonials.
For now, we can announce that more than 350 medical professionals, health experts, researchers and community members attended! An unprecedented number of people wanting to learn more about the conditions, and helping to spread awareness and improve support for families.
“Thank you to PANS PANDAS UK for pulling off such an extraordinary event. Somehow, the team managed to balance the absolute professionalism of the event, (including an introductory video of support from Sir Jim Mackey no less!) with an absolute radiating sense of warmth and support. It was clear that the charity has managed to grow its reach to the global stage without losing its heart.”
– Rebecca Whyte, Community member and volunteer Teacher Trainer
Highlighting the educational impact
EdPsychEd once again provided space to discuss the educational impact of PANS and PANDAS, marking the third Awareness Day article to which PANS PANDAS UK has had the opportunity to contribute. This year’s article centres on Jennifer Heseltine’s case study and Vicky Queralt’s reflections on the experiences of children and families affected by PANS and PANDAS.
One of the themes running through both pieces is the challenge families face when trying to help others make sense of significant changes in their child. Parents and carers often find themselves repeatedly explaining not only the condition itself, but the contrast between how their child was previously functioning and what they are experiencing now. For us, the article raises some important questions for educational psychology and wider education services. How do we respond when a child’s or young person’s presentation changes suddenly? How do we balance uncertainty with the need to provide support, and how do we ensure that families are not left carrying sole responsibility for joining up information across different systems and services?
We would particularly like to thank Jennifer Heseltine for sharing her case study, Dr Vicky Queralt for her ongoing contribution to understanding in this field, and the team at EdPsychEd for continuing to provide a platform for these conversations. Alongside the contributions of professionals, we would also like to recognise the crucial role of PANS PANDAS UK’s Youth Board and Glitch in ensuring that the voices and experiences of young people remain at the heart of this work.
We would also like to thank:
- Rare Revolution for allowing us to ‘take over’ their social media platforms, bringing our messages to a huge audience of more than four million people, all with an interest in rare and rarely-recognised conditions.
- Youth Advisory Board member, Darci, for her beautiful song about living with PANDAS
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for staging an awareness-raising running challenge by Samuel Barker, 10, and his dad!
- National local media for its awareness day coverage, including the Coleraine Chronicle, Times Radio, and BBC Points West.
