Beating bowel cancer together

Thank you for an amazing Bowel Cancer Awareness Month!

Friday 29 April 2022

Today marks the last day of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, and what an amazing month it's been! Thank you so much for joining us this April – for every penny donated, every challenge completed, every share on social media – we couldn't have done it without your support. Here's a round-up of just some of the incredible things that you've helped us to achieve this month:

No Butts campaign on ITV's Lorraine

Following the success of the campaign's launch last year, we're delighted to be working with ITV's Lorraine again on the No Butts campaign this year. Running until Thursday 5 May, the show is raising awareness of bowel cancer by highlighting the key symptoms and featuring supporters and celebrities affected by the disease, including two of our patrons, Matt Dawson and Deborah James, as well as Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts and GP and bowel cancer patient Dr Anisha Patel.

Learn more about the campaign

Our Step up for 30 superstars

A huge thank you to everyone who's been taking part in Step up for 30 this month. Over 500 of you have been getting active every day to support our work and together you've raised an incredible £120,000 so far and we're still seeing donations roll in.

We've loved seeing all the different ways you've been keeping active, and it's been wonderful to witness the supportive community that's been created online through the Step up for 30 Facebook group. We're overwhelmed by your commitment and the money you've raised, thank you so much.

New research commitments

We're delighted to announce that we're now able to start funding new research projects again. Due to the effects of the pandemic, we had to make the extremely difficult decision to pause our funding of new research. But thanks to all of your incredible fundraising efforts we're able to restart this incredibly important area of our work.

So what are we doing?

  • We're funding the first ever Scottish Colorectal Cancer Surgical Research Chair, working with the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, and a leading Scottish University, to recruit a surgical academic based in Scotland for this pioneering new position
  • We're offering £200,000 worth of pilot grant funding to eight new research projects. Researchers will be able to apply for funds from September

Find out more

#thisisbowelcancer: your voices

Everyone affected by bowel cancer has their own unique story to tell. Whether you've shared your story on our #thisisbowelcancer wall or given your voice to one of our videos or blogs, we've been so moved by your experiences and are so grateful to you for helping others to feel less alone.

Our #thisisbowelcancer wall

Our #thisisbowelcancer blog

Meeting your local politicians

We've hosted parliamentary drop-in events this week in Westminster, Holyrood and the Senedd to discuss the issues facing bowel cancer patients with politicians and work with them to help transform bowel cancer services and survival across the UK.

Read more in our blog

Our online event for everyone affected by bowel cancer

On Saturday 23 April we hosted a free online event 'Living with and beyond bowel cancer' and over 70 of you joined us on the day. We heard from a panel of experts who covered a range of topics including eating well, managing bowel habits, physical activity, coping with emotional impact and making plans as you move on from treatment.

If you weren't able to make it on the day, you can catch up on the sessions over on our YouTube channel. We'll be launching a new programme of online events soon, watch this space!

Catch up with the event

Introducing: our new podcast series

Our new #thisisbowelcancer podcast series shines a light on the varied and many people affected by the disease.

In our first episode our Chief Executive Genevieve Edwards speaks to Rachel Reed, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 33, and Harriet Watson, a Consultant Nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, about the amazing work they're doing to help raise awareness of the disease in very different but complementary ways.

Listen now

Talking about bowel cancer

Over 800 of you have attended our live bowel cancer awareness talks this month. If you'd like your workplace or community group to receive an awareness talk, you can book one for free on our website. We cover all parts of the UK and will provide nation-specific statistics and information on screening.

Book a free talk

Remembering those we've lost to bowel cancer

Remember Together took place on Sunday 24 April, when hundreds of us lit candles to remember those we've lost to bowel cancer and raise awareness of the disease. Thank you to everyone who took part and shared their experiences and memories on our special page, which you can view here.

If you've lost a loved one and are looking for support, we have support and information about coping with grief and bereavement on our website.

Bereavement support

As well as all the above, this month we also welcomed professional rugby player Vicky Fleetwood as our new patron, attended the Women of Scotland Lunch as their 2022 beneficiary, went on the road in Suffolk and Essex with our inflatable bowel and worked with countless organisations to help spread the word even further.

As you can see, it's been a jam-packed month and you've helped us to create real impact in so many ways. Thank you so much, we're truly grateful and couldn't have done it any of it without you.

Although Bowel Cancer Awareness Month is coming to an end, we still have plenty of ways you can get involved in our work or get support:

June is Walk Together month!

We're calling on everyone to lace up, get outside and walk five miles to help stop people dying from bowel cancer. Complete your five mile walk on Saturday 11 June, or another day in June that suits you, and ask friends, family and colleagues to sponsor you. Help us move towards a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer.

Sign up to Walk Together

Chat Together: join our online support group

Join us for a free one-hour weekly call on Zoom with a small group of others. We're running separate groups, which run for six weeks, starting in May for people with stages 1-3 bowel cancer, people with advanced bowel cancer, people under 50 and a group to support those with a stoma.

Support for you

We're here for you at every step and we have a range of support and information you might find useful:

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