In 2003, I received a message from a good friend, that brought home to me the full impact of breast cancer. Don't get me wrong, I was already aware of it - but knowing somebody who has been diagnosed with and has undergone treatment for breast cancer has had a profound effect on me.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and almost 46,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.
Sadly more than 12,300 women in the UK still die of breast cancer each year. Men can also get breast cancer but it is rare (around 300 cases are diagnosed each year).
Along with many good friends (and especially Kelly Close who did all the hard work), a charity event was arranged in aid of Cancer Research UK, in particular to raise money for research into breast cancer, and to raise awareness of the disease.
The main event of the evening (for me at least) was my head shaving stunt - check out the pictures! There was also a raffle at The Anchor Inn, just up the road from the studio venue. We raised £1,400 and further associated donations took the total to nearer £2,000 - my original target was £1,000 so this was especially satisfying.
Heartfelt thanks go to:
Pippa-Anne, Kelly Close, Scott, Peter, Shaun McManus, DJ Karl K, James and all of the wonderful people who attended.
Special thanks to the wonderful ladies at Crackers and Chaps hair salon in Diss, for making my hair pink free of charge!
...and of course, all of the people who donated their time and money to make this a success!
I urge everyone to take an active involvement in raising awareness and money for this worthy cause, and I remind people to keep checking for signs of cancer as earlier detection leads to earlier and more successful treatment. Thank you.
