Being a CRUK Ambassador

I'm 22 years old and I've already had to say goodbye to six of my close relatives: On my fathers side I have lost both grandparents (Alexandra and Peter), my uncle/godfather Sotiris and my aunt Eleni. On my mothers side I lost my aunt/godmother Gina and my beloved cousin Georgie.

I applied to become an ambassador for Cancer Research UK (CRUK). CRUK’s ambassadors are a brilliant group of passionate supporters working hard to help CRUK effectively influence politicians, engage the local media in their campaigns and try to help them save lives. Our stories, experiences and passion have become one of CRUK’s most powerful campaigning tools and are vital part of their work.

As an ambassador my activities are varied and interesting:

* Communication with local politicians and parliamentary representatives; flagging up our campaign issues and persuading them to back us and take positive action on our behalf.

* Engaging with our local and regional press; securing coverage for our campaigns and raising awareness in our local area.

* Lobbying for specific cancer related campaigns.

I have met some amazing and inspiring people as an ambassador and it's a role I really enjoy. I did think talking about cancer a lot would be really depressing but in a strange way it is actually conforting to know there are people out there who have been through the same kind of experiences as me. It makes my day when someone messages me to let me know I've helped them in some way.

Our current campaign is “A Voice for Radiotherapy”. CRUK believe everybody deserves the best chance at fighting cancer and beating it. This means giving them access to the best possible treatments. Up to half of all cancer patients could benefit from access to world class radiotherapy treatments but only 4/10 people with cancer currently do. We are campaigning to make sure it is available to everybody who could benefit from it.

Awareness of radiotherapy is low; a recent CRUK survey reveals that 14% of people are aware of it. We are concerned that a lack of public awareness means that radiotherapy does not receive the attention is needs to develop into a world class service in the UK.

We are calling on the government in England to introduce an action plan, to tackle unequal access to radiotherapy and make sure that all services have the appropriate workforce, the best treatments and the capacity to plan for the future. We want to make sure that everyone who needs it has access to world class radiotherapy treatments.

Please take a moment to sign our petition and get as many of your loved ones to do the same:  http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=149&ea.campaign.id=9329&ea.tracking.id=PennySC

We will be handing this petition in at Downing Street in November. We are aiming for 36,000 signatures, one for every person who misses out every year.