Be a Star, Bake a Cake and help save lives during Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

If you swoon over a chocolate brownie and a cup cake sends you into a spin, then join Bowel Cancer UK this April, Be a Star, Bake a Cake and support vital research and lifesaving work to stop bowel cancer.

This clarion call from Bowel Cancer UK comes ahead of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in April.  It coincides with the launch of a new logo for the charity, to be unveiled during March, which features the Star of Hope, the international symbol for bowel cancer.

Although Britain has always been a nation of bakers, we have become a nation obsessed, with millions of people picking up a whisk and being inspired to bake in recent years by celebrity chefs, as well as amateur and celebrity contestants in baking themed television shows.

The campaign has already garnered high profile, celebrity chef support, including Gennaro Contaldo, widely known as the Italian legend who taught Jamie Oliver all he knows about Italian cooking, who said, “Go on, Be a Star, Bake a Cake and support Bowel Cancer UK this April during Bowel Cancer Awareness Month!”

More support has been given by Tom Aikens, one of the UK’s most acclaimed and inspirational chefs, who said, “I’m supporting Bowel Cancer UK’s Be a Star, Bake a Cake campaign as I’d like to help raise funds to stop bowel cancer – it’s the UK’s second biggest cancer killer but it shouldn’t be.”

Everyone can get involved in Be a Star, Bake A Cake, whether you love to get creative in the kitchen or would prefer to buy something delicious from your local supermarket!   Hold a cake sale at home or a bake off at work and invite your friends, family and colleagues to sample the delicious treats and make a donation. Visit Bowel Cancer UK’s website for more details and order a free fundraising pack bowelcanceruk.org.uk.

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK, with over 16,000 people dying every year.  That’s one person every 30 minutes. However bowel cancer is preventable, treatable and curable especially if diagnosed early.

During Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Bowel Cancer UK is putting the spotlight on screening, as 2016 marks the ten year anniversary of the introduction of bowel cancer screening to the UK.^[1] Screening can save lives but at the moment in some areas of the UK only a third of those who receive a test complete it.  Thousands of people are missing out on the chance to detect bowel cancer early when it is easier to treat.

Bowel Cancer UK is urging people to spread the word among their family, friends and colleagues to encourage participation in bowel cancer screening, and help stop people dying from the disease.