Action Cancer Urges Women To Be Their Own ‘Breast Friends’ on International Women’s Day and Self Refer.

With our support the Breast Friends campaign has raised £192,185 since 2019 enabling 1,826 breast screenings for local women.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, leading NI cancer charity Action Cancer is encouraging women to be their own ‘Breast Friends’ and book a breast screening appointment online. International Women’s Day will be celebrated on the 8th of March and the chosen theme for 2023 is, "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality". Action Cancer is an all year campaign who are now celebrating their fiftieth anniversary offering 8,000 breast screening appointments per year to women aged 40-49 and over 70.

Action Cancer’s Public Fundraising Manager, Leigh Osborne, explains why women in the 40-49 and over 70 age groups should proactively book a screening:

“Women in 2023 lead such busy lives, often juggling work commitments with looking after family members and organising household duties. Personal health and wellbeing can drop to the bottom of the priority list.  So, this International Women’s Day, I am appealing to women to take time out of their busy schedules to put their own health first.  Book a breast screening appointment. It will only take five minutes and the appointment itself will take no longer than half an hour. You can book online at www.actioncancer.org or by phone on 028 9080 3344.” 

“It’s important to stress the service is free to the user. However, each appointment costs the charity £120.  Fundraising allows us to deliver the breast screening service.  Through our Breast Friends campaign we encourage groups of friends to organise a catch up and raise much needed funds at the same time. You could hold a coffee morning, pamper day or spring garden party, at home, in your local salon, gym or anywhere of your choosing.  The money we raise through the campaign is then generously matched by local online insurance company its4women.co.uk.  We are immensely grateful for their support, which has been in place since 2019.  It means we can double our reach, and twice as many women can benefit from the service.”

Its4women Marketing Manager, Kerry Beckett adds:

“Given Action Cancer detects six cancers for every 1,000 appointments, money raised from the campaign will have led to the detection of at least nine cancers.  These women would not have been accessing a breast screening through another channel which is why this breast screening service is so important. Its4women is committed to working with Action Cancer in its fiftieth anniversary year, to benefit as many women as possible, whether that is by booking an appointment for a potentially lifesaving breast screening or matching all public fundraising up to a total value of £90,000 over three years.”

For more information on Action Cancer’s services, call 028 9080 3344 or visit www.actioncancer.org.

To get your free Breast Friends fundraising pack, please contact Leigh Osborne on 07928 668543 or email events@actioncancer.org