Council staff go pink for breast cancer awareness month

South Norfolk Council staff are preparing for a pink makeover on Friday (October 31) to mark the end of a month of activities to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Around 300 staff based at South Norfolk House in Long Stratton will be urged to “Wear It Pink” and donate £1 each to the Breast Cancer Campaign. The separate Breakthrough Breast Cancer campaign has also given the Council 1,000 crocus bulbs, representing the 1,000 women who die of breast cancer in the UK every month. These have now been planted. And there has been a “learning hour” for staff as well as sales of chocolate bears and campaign badges.

Helen Sherwood of South Norfolk Council’s personnel team, who has been helping to organise the activities throughout October, said:

“The response to the various activities has been excellent, but this is about more than money raising. It is alarming that 1,000 women a month in the UK are still dying of this disease. Campaigns like this play a vital role in waking people up to the danger of breast cancer. They show that there is every chance of stopping it if it is discovered early.”

Recently, staff gathered for a Learning Hour organised to raise awareness of the disease and every two weeks, occupational health nurse Mel Bradford holds a surgery for staff, giving advice and guidance on a range of health issues, not just breast cancer.

Mel Bradford said:

“My message to women regarding breast cancer is: be breast aware. That means learning the self-examination techniques and most importantly, not waiting until you think there is a problem. Having said that it is very useful to be able to run these health surgeries at South Norfolk House, because if staff come to me with concerns, I can point them in the right direction to get the right help and advice, fast.”

The 1,000 crocus bulbs from Breakthrough Breast Cancer have already been planted in the grounds of South Norfolk House in Long Stratton as part of the charity’s campaign to “cover Britain in crocuses”.

Former Council caretaker Shirley Manser, who has now joined the Council’s contact care service, planted the bulbs with help from work experience student Robbie Gardiner, aged 15, of Long Stratton High School. It was one of her last jobs as a caretaker, and one she said she was “very proud of”:

“If you get crocuses into the ground early enough, they will survive the winter and come up beautiful in the Spring. There’s a message of hope in that, and I am very proud to have been able to play my part in the campaign.”

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