One of my New Year's resolutions is to really get involved with certain charities and campaigns that can make a difference to others and not just by donating money. So here's my first one, a charity that I feel is possibly one of the most important charities out there and that's Coppafeel!
Coppafeel! was founded by Kris Hallenga (and her twin sister, Maren) just one month after Kris, who at the age of 23, when most of us are mainly worrying about what to wear to that party the person you fancy is attending or looking in the mirror thinking why do we still have spots (?!), was diagnosed with breast cancer, and if that wasn't the worse possible news to receive she was then informed it was -is- stage four which is the most advanced.
But how is that possible when breast cancer is for older women right? Wrong.
If you have breasts which is pretty much 100% of us including men! Then you are/can be prone to breast cancer, whatever age you are.
Almost 50,000 women and 400 men get diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year. 5% of those diagnosed are already at stage 4....there is no stage 5. Which is why checking your boobs is so important to make sure you stay as far away from stage 4 as possible.
I recently watched Giovanna Fletcher's latest vlog where she is informing her Sister -In-Law Carrie Fletcher of the importance of checking your boobs and discussing Coppafeel!
Giovanna and Carrie are official Boob Ninja's who help to spread the word as much as they can.
After watching this I thought it would be amazing if I could somehow get involved and what best way to do this then include on my blog and get the message out there to as many people as possible. Which goes back to the beginning of this post where I mentioned 'imagine if someone read your post and you change their life...literally.'
After excitedly deciding to do this I emailed the lovely people at Coppafeel! and expressed my interest in getting involved and publishing a post on my blog. Within hours the lovely Sinead replied to my email and made it very clear how happy she was for me to get involved and really help to spread the message.
Sinead informed me their latest campaign is #Showerhijack where they are trying to encourage as many of us as possible to check our boobs in the shower by including the 'check your boobs' and signs/symptoms on shower gel bottles.
This campaign is supported by I Love.....Cosmetics.
It really doesn't take long to check and can literally be life saving.
Shampoo. Condition. Coppafeel. Rinse. Job Done.
Another one of their campaigns is #Brahijack and this one is encouraging lingerie retailers to include a tag in bras reminding us to do that all important check.
You probably don't know this but some retailers have actually started to do this including Curvy Kate (the first to start this campaign) and Asos.
Actually there are quite a few partners who help with the Coppafeel! campaign who you maybe didn't know were involved, I'll include a link to these below with the other important links for you to check out.
So the message here is to check your boobs! Check for the signs and symptoms and if you aren't too sure about something or have concerns then please go to your local GP. For the sake of 30 minutes out of your day you could be saving your life.
I've included below the all important links to help you check those boobs and also get involved with Coppafeel! Help spread the word to your friends, family and work colleagues and don't forget it's not just women who can be diagnosed with breast cancer almost 400 men are diagnosed in the UK every year.
Coppafeel! website - www.coppafeel.org
To help spread the word and receive a full information pack click here
Friends and Partners of Coppafeel! - https://coppafeel.org/what-we-do/our-friends/
I Love....Cosmetics - https://www.ilovecosmetics.eu/
Giovanna's YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/Giovannasworld
Carrie's YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/ItsWayPastMyBedTime
Also if you want to be reminded to check your boobs you can sign up for the following;
Free text message reminder - Click here
Email - Sign up here
Shower Stickers - Request here
Help spread the word on Twitter including #TeamBoob in tweets and following @coppafeelpeople
Maxine x