Cancer awareness day in Princesshay

FORCE Cancer Charity is staging its first awareness event in Princesshay this month as part of a new partnership with one of Exeter’s leading shopping and dining centres.

Bowel Cancer Awareness Day is being held on Friday March 23.

A team from FORCE and the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital will be in Bedford Square from 11:30am to 3pm.

Specialist nurses will be on hand to answer questions and offer advice and representatives from FORCE will be there to let people know about the face-to-face support available locally to anyone affected by cancer.

Emma Jenkins, a colorectal nurse specialist at the RD&E, said: “Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer affecting one in 19 women and one in 14 men and if diagnosed early it can be very successfully treated. Improvements in diagnosis, treatment and care are happening all the time and the message is not to ignore symptoms and see your GP if you have concerns.”

“Joining FORCE at Princesshay enables us to reach out to the local community making people more aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer and we will be accessible to answer any questions,” she added.

FORCE has been chosen as Princesshay’s Charity of the Year for 2018, a link that offers the charity great fundraising potential plus the opportunity to raise the profile of cancer services in Exeter by staging awareness days in the heart of the city throughout the year.

FORCE will also be in Princesshay at other times during 2018 to promote the work it does and help raise the £1.5million needed every year to maintain the services it offers to thousands of local people.

The charity:

• funds a local programme of cancer research
• has spent more than £1million on equipment to improve patient care at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital
• runs a Support and Information Centre in Exeter and weekly services in Tiverton and Okehampton

Oly Watts, Fundraising Development Officer at FORCE, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to work alongside our specialist nurses at the RD&E and together, help to develop awareness in the community of the services we are able to offer to anyone affected by cancer and to help address any concerns that the public might have, specifically about bowel cancer.”