Local fundraiser calls for help to beat breast cancer

7/25/2011 8:12 AM EST

Press Release

For immediate release: Monday 24 July 2011
Press contact: Marilena Patuto, Media Relations Officer, DD 0207 749 3720, Email:  

Local fundraiser calls for help to beat breast cancer

A fundraiser from Tyne and Wear dedicated to raising money for breast cancer research is calling on people in North Tyneside to join her in the fight against the disease.

Jan Casson, 53, has been supporting Breast Cancer Campaign since 2006 having lost her mum to the disease 30 years ago. After taking part in sponsored runs and holding fundraising events, Jan now wants to join forces with people from the area and start a volunteer group devoted to beating breast cancer and raising awareness of the disease.

Breast Cancer Campaign currently has 15 volunteer groups across the UK which are vital to the work of the charity. The groups are Breast Cancer Campaign’s regional representatives and help carry out a variety of activities in their local area including organising and running fundraising events, attending cheque presentations and encouraging local schools and businesses to help support research.

Becoming a volunteer is a great way to improve or learn new skills and meet new people. You can dedicate as much time as you like, and as this is a brand new group it is more important than ever to find people who can share their ideas and skills to get the group off the ground.

Jan said: “I am really excited about becoming a volunteer for Breast Cancer Campaign and devoting some free time to helping the charity’s work in North Tyneside. My aim is to bring together a group of people to help me because as a team we can really make a difference to the thousands of people in the UK who are diagnosed with the disease each year.”

For more information about joining the volunteer group in North Tyneside, please call Breast Cancer Campaign on 020 7749 3708 or email  

ENDS

Notes to editors
• Breast Cancer Campaign aims to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure
• Currently it supports 81 research projects, worth over £15.5 million, in 31 centres of excellence across the UK and Ireland
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and accounts for nearly one in three of all cancers in women
• In the UK, nearly 48,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year - that’s 130 a day
• Visit www.breastcancercampaign.org