Touch. Look. Check.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a worldwide annual campaign to highlight the importance of breast awareness, education and research.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK with one woman diagnosed every 10 minutes and one in seven women developing breast cancer in their lifetime.
Checking your breasts only takes a few minutes. Everyone will have their own way of touching and looking for changes, but remember to check the whole breast area, including your upper chest and armpits. There’s no special technique and you don’t need training. It’s as simple as TLC: Touch. Look. Check.
The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the better the chance of successful treatment. So, it's important to check your breasts regularly. If you are concerned about your breasts, please visit your GP as soon as possible.
Change and Check campaign
ITV presenter, Lorraine Kelly’s ‘Change And Check’ campaign has now saved 36 women’s lives. The campaign to raise awareness of checking regularly for the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, was inspired by the presenter’s friend and Lorraine producer Helen Addis, who herself had breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy, surgery and chemotherapy.
Change and Check stickers reminding women to check for the symptoms of breast cancer, have been placed in thousands of changing rooms nationwide since the campaign launched early last year.
Among the millions of women inspired to check their breasts by the campaign, was postwoman Rachael Wellbelove, from Bordon Delivery Office, who said: ‘The Change and Check campaign literally saved my life. Without the campaign, I wouldn’t have checked myself and found my cancer. If I hadn’t found my cancer when I did, who knows what would have happened?
‘I’ve had two operations, six months of chemotherapy and 20 radiation treatments. One year on and I’m back to work and apart from Covid-19, I’m enjoying life.
‘I want as many ladies as possible to check themselves regularly. I never thought it would happen to me, but it did. Breast cancer doesn’t just run in families – no-one in my family has had it before, it has to start somewhere. Look after yourselves!’
To support the campaign, from Monday, 26 October to 2 November, every piece of UK mail will be franked with the Change and Check logo. A poster has also been designed to help promote the campaign in units. You can also join in on social media using the hashtag #ChangeAndCheck.
More information
Visit www.wearitpink.org, www.breastcancernow.org or www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-cancer for further information and access to useful resource materials.
Support is available 24/7 from the First Class Support helpline. Call 0345 266 5060, visit www.rmgfirstclasssupport.co.uk or download the ‘Lifeworks’ app. New users of the website/app can ‘sign up’ using a unique invitation code, which is RMG- and then your payroll number, e.g. RMG-12345678.
Our in-house charity, the Rowland Hill Fund offers financial aid to colleagues, pensioners and their families in times of need and is available by calling 0345 600 4586 or visiting www.rowlandhillfund.org.
