Tuesday 6 November 2012

Charity Showcase: Beating Bowel Cancer


Happy Tuesday one and all! My Tuesday so far as feature an hour long wait at the train station and a leaky, unstable home! But as I sit and wait for the servicemen to come out, I thought I’d showcase another charity I have come to know and respect through Twitter. Having lost family members to bowel cancer, I am always interested to come across charities that are trying their hardest to help people cope with this horrible cancer type. People don’t like to talk about their bowel movements and I applaud anybody that works hard to encourage people to ignore the stigma and go to the doctors if something is wrong.

Beating Bowel Cancer formed in 1999 (incidently the same year my auntie Eleni passed away from bowel cancer) and has been working hard to raise awareness of the second biggest cancer killer in the UK as well as promote early diagnosis and help as many people as possible have access to the best treatments.
Beating Bowel Cancer has a very clear vision – “A World Where Bowel Cancer Is Beaten” and their mission is also very clear – “Beating Bowel Cancer Together”.

The charity sticks to four key values:  being supportive, being inspiring, being trustworthy and being dedicated.

The charity works with individuals, communities, medical professionals and the government to improve early diagnosis rates, to improve public awareness of this cancer type.

Beating Bowel Cancer has a large team of hardworking and dedicated staff, all of whom work tirelessly to promote the charities aims and mission. My friend Nancy Scott began working for the charity recently and the CEO is Mark Flannaghan, a man with a wealth of experience in the health sector, having worked for the Royal College of GP’s, the Royal College of Nursing and Action on Smoking to name but a few. The charity also has passionate patron’s including Rugby star Matt Dawson as well as hugely dedicated volunteers. All of whom work together to make the charity a supportive and dedicated service for bowel cancer sufferers.

The charity has a  patient forum, giving bowel cancer patients an opportunity to provide advice, support and an opportunity to talk to bowel cancer specialist nurses. It fosters a feeling of community for bowel cancer patients, making them less isolated and alone.

As well as all this, Beating Bowel Cancer has a wealth of information booklets for people to read through and educate themselves with.  They are also poiloting ten local support groups through facebook.

Beating Bowel Cancer is a wonderful charity with a very personal feel to it. It is very patient centric and I think that is a hugely important thing – cancer sufferers need to know they are supported and cared for.
Please do take a look at the Beating Bowel Cancer website http://www.beatingbowelcancer.org/

And do follow them on Twitter @bowelcancer

xxx

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