The best part about my role as the Programme Manager for the Answer Cancer Programme is meeting our Cancer Champions.
Cancer Champions are people from all walks of life, from many different backgrounds and of all different ages who have vital conversations that save lives.
Anyone can be a Cancer Champion
Our Cancer Champions are hugely important to the aims of Answer Cancer in raising awareness of cancer, promoting the importance of screening and challenging health inequalities.
Answer Cancer work with diverse communities across Greater Manchester and our Champions are the people who carry these important messages into the hearts of their groups, neighbourhoods, families, friends and workplaces. Champions are the people who know how best to hold these conversations, the language to use and how to ensure the message is delivered sensitively and
in a way that makes sense to the listener. This is because Champions are part of the communities that they are talking to, they understand the people in their groups and workplaces and know best how to start a conversation.
Currently, Answer Cancer have nearly two thousand Cancer Champions across Greater Manchester who are working hard to help people understand how screening can detect cancer at an early stage and save lives one conversation at a time. Our Champions activities range from talking to family and friends, or work colleagues, to those who are getting involved in public speaking and putting on events and information sessions. All of our Champions are fulfilling their role using their talents how they feel most comfortable in multiple different ways from one-to-one conversations through to singing in choirs, performing and producing art.
The great strength of our Champions is that many of them have lived experience of cancer, either as people who are living with it, as carers and as family and friends of people with cancer. Their lived experience and stories of cancer journeys told peer to peer are a fantastic social movement that is promoting the importance of screening through these important conversations.
Training
The Answer Cancer Programme supports our Champions by providing free training to give them accurate information and the confidence talk about cancer and screening, as well as providing regular newsletters to keep everyone updated on new developments and events. As part of this, we hold a regular celebration of the achievements of our Champions where we get to meet each other, hear about everyone’s work and listen to their stories. These events are a truly joyous celebration of the vital work of our Cancer Champions and the difference that their thousands of conversations are making to raising awareness of how to detect cancer early and save lives in their communities.
Catching cancer early is vital and our wonderful Cancer Champions are saving lives, one conversation at a time.
If you want to become a Cancer Champion and find out more about our next celebration event, please visit our website at Home - Answer Cancer where you can find out more about what we are doing and find out how to register.