Cancer charity aims to recruit 100 awareness ambassadors

A recruitment drive to find Manchester’s next breast cancer awareness ambassadors, in support of Prevent Breast Cancer, has launched.

The BooBee campaign is looking for 100 women who have been affected directly or indirectly by the disease, to come forward to support in fundraising and events over the next three months.

With more than 3,000 breast cancer diagnoses per annum being from those living in Greater Manchester, the BooBee campaign aims to make Manchester the most breast cancer aware region to help tackle these rising rates.

The campaign is returning this year following a two year hiatus which was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now back, and bigger than ever, the campaign will build on the success of 2019’s results which saw 100 women join forces as BooBee ambassadors to educate the public about the disease and how to prevent it. 

Once the recruitment phase of the campaign is complete, the ‘BooBee’s’ will take to the road from November 1, where they will travel the Greater Manchester area in the famous ‘BooBee Bus’ to showcase the ground-breaking work taking place in the region to tackle breast cancer. 

After spending two weeks engaging the people of Manchester, the road trip will come to an end at the BooBee’s Bingo Bedlam and Disco at Manchester Central on Saturday, November 19.

Margo Cornish, founder of the BooBee campaign, and patron of Prevent Breast Cancer, said: “Through BooBee, we aim to equip people with the knowledge they need to understand the different risk factors, as well as the symptoms of breast cancer to help reduce the rising rates of the disease.

“I have seen many of my dear friends directly affected by breast cancer and it’s for this reason I was inspired to launch BooBee in support of Prevent Breast Cancer’s vital work.  

“With events including a touring BooBee bus, education talks and awareness outreach, the highlight of the campaign will culminate with a fantastic BooBee Bingo Bedlam and Disco event later in the year.” 

The role of BooBees within the Manchester community is to engage, educate and inspire, with the aim of making breast cancer an illness of the past through awareness and prevention. 

Nikki Barraclough, Executive Director at Prevent Breast Cancer, said: “Despite breast cancer being such a prevalent disease, during the pandemic, we saw a significant drop in cancer research funding.

“Because of this drop in funding, our priority was to protect our existing research studies and we had to make the difficult decision not to fund any new research.

“Thankfully, we are now in a position to re-open new, life-changing research projects and the more money we can raise from this inspiring campaign, the more research we can fund in 2023 and beyond.

“Not only will this campaign help to fund research into prevention and early diagnosis of breast cancer, it will also bring together women across Greater Manchester who have been affected by breast cancer.

“We hope by building a team of BooBees, we’ll be able to drive awareness and the conversation in a way that captures the spirit of the campaign which aims to not only educate on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, but also celebrate those that have experienced this terrible disease.”

Prevent Breast Cancer is helping to lead the way towards a new chapter in understanding and preventing the disease. 

In the UK breast cancer rates have increased by 18 per cent in the last 30 years – and without interventions, the disease will become even more prevalent. 

With just 8.9% of government spending on prevention and early detection of all diseases, its work is vital as the rate of breast cancer continues to grow. 

The BooBee team welcomes you to get involved in this campaign.

Whether you want to attend the BooBee events, help to raise awareness during the road trip, or do your part by fundraising, there are many ways to join in the movement and show your support.  

To find out more about the campaign and how you can become one of the 100 BooBees, check out the official Prevent Breast Cancer website here, or alternatively you can call the BooBee team on 0161 291 4400.

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