Sunflowers and Hidden Disabilities

Have you ever seen someone wearing one of those sunflower lanyards when out and about and wondered what it’s for?

The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower also known as the sunflower lanyard scheme came about in 2016 after staff at Gatwick Airport realised that there wasn’t enough awareness of hidden disabilities among staff or passengers at airports.

To tackle this, staff at Gatwick teamed up with national and local charities to design a lanyard, which would indicate that its wearer might need some extra assistance in certain situations. This simple idea had a big impact, and soon other companies and organisations caught on, so Gatwick gave permission for anyone and everyone to use it.

The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme is now a global initiative aimed to support inclusive practices.

An estimated 1.3 billion people experience some form of disability or disabling condition. This represents 16% of the world’s population or 1 in 6 of us and, for the majority, these conditions are not visible.

Hidden disabilities can make daily life more challenging for those who have one.

There is no qualifying list of invisible disabilities – you simply choose to wear the Sunflower to indicate that you may need additional support, help or simply a little more time.

In practice how can we as a Church help and use Sunflower Lanyard wearers?

The Sunflower symbol doesn’t focus on the invisible but is designed to trigger the simple question ‘How can I help you?’ to focus on the support or understanding you need. Simply by wearing the Sunflower, you’re letting everyone know that you might need extra help, understanding, or just more time.

Angela Clarke is Church Warden for St Fagan’s Church, Trecynon. She said, “For me as a Church Warden I feel confident and permissioned to be able to approach the wearer, to serve them with that simple question, I don’t feel that I am intruding. Sometimes my question has been answered with a request for a gluten free wafer, for sacrament to be brought to them in their seat, for help with knowing what to do when in a service and for the toilet access to be pointed out.

“Some people already have their own lanyards, but I think it would be good if all churches had some available to borrow for services, as we don’t always know when we will need that little bit more of assistance to be included.”