East End of Glasgow Awareness Success!

From the 19th-25th August, we hosted our first Awareness Week in the East End of Glasgow. Over the course of seven days, Pancreatic Cancer Action saturated the East End with all things pancreatic cancer. From distributing leaflets and discussing stats and symptoms, with anyone and everyone; to stints on the local radio show, an afternoon at Celtic FC, and even making an appearance on Celtic TV, nowhere was off limits and we really went to town (excuse the pun).

We multiplied in numbers during the week and had a lot of help from our friends. The community came together to help amplify our voice. Pharmacies handed out medication to the public in our Pancreatic Cancer Action branded bags, coffee shops showcased our eye-catching purple branded cups, which listed all the symptoms of pancreatic cancer, and by the end of the week, you would likely not be able to go for a wee, without seeing our pancreatic cancer information on the back of the toilet door.

We hosted awareness stands at the Glasgow Fort shopping centre, Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow Northeast food bank, Glasgow Royal Infirmary hospital, Helenslea community centre, Cartyne and Cranhill Parish Church, St. Bridgets Parish Church. In doing so, we spoke to an estimated 2,000 people and reaching a potential 87,000 people. We also raised over £600 at the Glasgow Fort!

On Tuesday afternoon, Heather was invited to speak on East End Community Radio based within Helenslea Community Centre. She spoke about the activities we had organised for the week, described the signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer and explained how the public can get in touch with the charity! The presenter, Stuart, was an excellent host and really made us feel welcome. Snippets from the interview were then replayed throughout the rest of the week, which was a great opportunity for us to reach more people. Stuart advised that they have on average 10,000 monthly listeners which presents a huge reach of people who may not know about pancreatic cancer.

On Wednesday afternoon, Heather and Tom were invited to Glasgow Celtic Football Club to meet with Jenny Kane, daughter of Frank McGarvey. Frank McGarvey was a Celtic legend who passed away from pancreatic cancer on New Years Day of 2023. Frank’s dying wish was for his family to continue to raise awareness of the disease and Jenny is working with the charity to carry out his wishes. Jenny and Heather were interviewed by Gerry McCulloch on Celtic TV, discussing how the charity supported Frank and his family and the importance of knowing the signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Their Celtic TV YouTube channel has over 250,000 subscribers.

Frank was born in Easterhouse in the East End of Glasgow so having support from Celtic, also based in the East End of Glasgow has been particularly poignant and we cannot thank them enough for their support. Jenny has also been an invaluable support in helping the charity to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer and spread our message in memory of her dad.

To compliment these activities, we distributed a variety of printed materials across the East End of Glasgow. We distributed 5,000 pharmacy bags, 5,000 coffee cups and displayed 30 washroom panels in pubs with an overall estimated reach of 450,000 people.

Ahead of the week we launched a targeted media campaign to encourage people to come and see us. The story ran as an exclusive in Sunday 18th’s Daily Record, and was also featured in The Glasgow Times, the Scottish Daily Express, and Yahoo News UK, both in print and online article, potentially reaching a staggering 17 million people!

We also engaged in impressive media coverage, too. Our targeted ads on social media reach half a million people across Glasgow, including healthcare professionals. In the run up to the week, we sent out emails to 1,000 of our supporters across Glasgow telling them about the activities we had planned. We also seen engagement from thousands of people on our social media posts, also promoting our awareness activities.

We want to say a huge thank you to the local organisations and volunteers who got involved to help make our first Awareness Week a huge success. These activities were part-funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, support that makes amazing things happen in local communities across the country.

This is the first in our series of Awareness Weeks and we want to replicate them throughout different areas of the UK. We are on a mission to raise awareness of signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer up and down the country. By raising awareness of signs and symptoms, patients can present to their GPs earlier and receive a timely diagnosis which will save their life.