Inspired

On Sunday I welcomed the Beating Bowel Cancer London Marathon runners to our post-race reception.  It's hard not to end up using cliches, as each runner was inspiring and their dedication to our cause is amazing.  What was also amazing was that each time I said thank you for running for us and for raising much needed sponsorship every one, without exception, said "No.  Thank you".  They each said it was a privilege and said that they are were delighted to support such a wonderful charity.

Our runners had different stories about why they got involved and raised money for us.  Mandy is a nurse diagnosed with bowel cancer two years ago and she found that the support our own nurses gave her and our information booklets we provided really helped her make sense of what she was going through.  Ian, whose soldier brother has advanced bowel cancer, said that what we do is great and our willingness to challenge the taboo by talking about bottoms means that others will not have to go through what his brother has gone through.  Victoria, running in memory of her sister said that the support we provided Hannah with was amazing and that she and her family appreciated this.

I am incredibly proud of Beating Bowel Cancer and its work.  We run the only bowel cancer helpline in the UK.  We send out tens of thousands of support booklets each year. We work with patients' cancer nurses to support them in their care.  We bring patients, family and relatives together through our online forum, our Facebook Groups, our local fundraising activities and our annual Patient Day (the next one being on 26th April).  We raise awareness everywhere we can - not least through a constant stream of articles in the media practically every day of the year.  We even challenge governments to do better - having won two significant campaigns in the past year.  And it is still not enough. We need to do more and we need more money to do it.

So that is why I am doing Ride London.  I want to join the hundreds of individuals who support us by running, cycling, and in many other ways.  I want to do my bit to beat bowel cancer.  If you wish to support me and our work then I would be very grateful, just click this link: Mark's Just Giving page.

Thank you XXX

Lift the lid - have that conversation to beat bowel cancer

This month we start our campaign to get people to Lift the Lid and talk about what must be one of our last taboos - bowel cancer.  We want everyone to join in and talk about bowels, bottoms and bowel cancer - and to raise awareness, improve screening uptake and, ultimately, help save lives.  Because we just don't talk enough about this cancer.

Everywhere I go people ask me about my bum shorts badge on my lapel and I always ask them to identify what it is all about.  "Prostate cancer?" is a common guess.  Never has anyone said bowel cancer.  So, that gives me the chance to start a conversation.  I usually ask people to guess just how big an issue bowel cancer is - and no-one ever gets it right by correctly saying it is a big cancer killer (second biggest) and a very common cancer (fourth).  I also surprise people - shock them even - by pointing out that bowel cancer is effectively 93% "curable" (five year survival in official terms).  From family members to shopkeepers to high profile people in the media to senior politicians every one of them has been really surprised that bowel cancer can have such a huge survival rate.  Every one of them has got the fact that we can turn bowel cancer from a common cancer killer to a rare cancer killer.

So, this month we need to start the conversation that will save lives.  We need to Lift the Lid on bowel cancer.  Please do all you can.  Twenty years ago we didn't talk about breast or prostate cancer.  Now we know that they can be beaten and that we need to be more aware to save lives.  I want us all to do the same for bowel cancer.