Action Cancer urges women to be their own 'breast friends' and self-refer

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.The theme for International Women's Day on 8th March 2023 (IWD 2023) is, "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality". International Women's Day is celebrated annually on March 8, yet the global campaign theme continues all year long to encourage action.

Now in its fiftieth anniversary year, Action Cancer offers 8,000 breast screening appointments per year to women aged 40-49 and over 70 — those who fall outside the NHS screening age range (50 – 70).The free life-saving service is available both at Action Cancer House in Belfast and on board the Big Bus mobile screening unit (kindly supported by SuperValu and Centra) which travels to over 200 locations each year.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Action Cancer has teamed up with local online car insurance company its4women.co.uk to urge local women to take action and participate in the ‘breast friends’ fundraising campaign in order to support the running cost of the breast screening service.

With no regular government funding Action Cancer raises funds to support screenings through campaigns such as this one, with cash generated and then matched by its4women.co.uk.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. “For every 1,000 breast screenings Action Cancer completes, it detects six cancers.

"Early detection makes a massive difference to treatment outcomes. Action Cancer’s programme screens women with no signs or symptoms of breast cancer. Appointments are available up to six weeks in advance and new appointments are released regularly.”

You can book online online for a screening by linking here or by calling 02890 803344.

Leigh adds: “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.”