Raising awareness of pancreatic cancer at the 50+ Show
‘Are you Pancreatic Cancer Aware?’ is what we asked attendees at the 50+ Show in London Olympia. We were there on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th July to raising awareness of pancreatic cancer, and the work that we, Pancreatic Cancer Action, do to improve early diagnosis.
As our recent pancreatic cancer awareness survey revealed, nine out of ten people have little to no knowledge of pancreatic cancer and its symptoms. This shocking lack of public awareness is one of the reasons why survival rates remain so low, and why we need to do all we can to spread the word about the disease.
With age being the biggest risk factor for pancreatic cancer, the over 50s is an important demographic for us and the 50+ Show is the UK’s largest exhibition for this market.
It was clear, sadly, that those attendees who had heard of pancreatic cancer were the ones who had lost someone to the disease. As always, we had a few visitors to the stand who were convinced that ‘nothing could be done’ and ‘no-one survives’. But we were there to tell them, ‘yes people do survive like our founder, Ali Stunt, who is just about to become a ten-year survivor of the disease.’ We explained that early diagnosis can increase a patient’s chance of survival significantly.
The majority of visitors to the stand were drawn to our symptoms poster, and intrigued to know more. We provided them with our new Quick Guide to Pancreatic Cancer and told them what they should do if they were worried or concerned about the symptoms.
Ali was invited to speak on both days and had two successful half-hour presentations. She told a packed audience about why Pancreatic Cancer Action was at the show raising awareness, shared results from our survey and displayed the symptoms. Towards the end of her presentation, she revealed that she was indeed a survivor of pancreatic cancer which was met with audible gasps from the audience. Each participant received a logobug to display at home to show that they were “Pancreatic Cancer Aware”!
Ali is living proof that survival is possible, early diagnosis is achievable and there is hope. This is why we will continue to raise awareness in any way we can.
How can you help raise awareness?
There are many ways you can help us raise awareness. Here are some ideas:
Our Action Pack is packed full of awareness materials to help you get started in raising awareness in your workplace or other community areas such
as supermarkets, clubs, libraries, pharmacies etc. Order yours today!
One of the many ways you can help us raise awareness of pancreatic cancer is by Sharing, Reposting and Retweeting our social media posts to help spread the word far and wide! Sharing our information regularly online can be a hugely effective way to create awareness.
Your story helps us to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer across the UK and can help others facing the same diagnosis.
Raising pancreatic cancer awareness can be done as an individual or group all year long, but it is especially important during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November.
It is a time of the year when we have the most voices speaking about out pancreatic cancer. Learn more about ways you can participate so you can help us raise awareness and funds during November. Follow the links below for tips, resources and information.
If you want to get in touch with us directly, please contact Lu or Natasha on comms@panact.org.