The aim of the roadshows is to help prevent late diagnosis of cancer and help people to understand the importance of accepting invites for cancer screenings. The roadshows are taking place over seven dates from January to March 2024.
Back in April 2023 NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Integrated Care Partnership (NHS HMR ICP), Rochdale Council and partners held a ground-breaking cancer awareness event and fashion show encouraging people to attend screening when invited. People attended the event in the afternoon and spoke to experts from organisations such as The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support, Springhill Hospice, Cancer Research UK for advice and support. In the evening a fashion show was put on by cancer survivors who modelled clothing to raise awareness on the importance of screening.
Dr Carolyn Walker, GP and Cancer lead for NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Integrated Care Partnership said: We know that screening and early diagnosis has saved thousand of lives. We are delighted to be able to put on these roadshows locally as a fantastic follow on to the event last May. We understand that screenings can be a frightening time and we really want to encourage people to drop-in at our roadshows and have a chat with one of our screening experts.”
Councillor Daalat Ali, Cabinet member for Health and wellbeing for Rochdale Borough Council said: “We want to break down the barriers and dispel the myths of cancer, continually raise awareness of the signs and symptoms, and encourage people to take up screening. Early diagnosis can save lives. We want as many residents as possible to attend these events around the borough, please come along, have a chat with us about screening advice, emotional and financial support and see how we can help.”
The first roadshow takes place on Thursday 11 January 2024, 2.30pm – 5pm at Heywood Sports Village, Starkey Street, Heywood, OL10 4TW, no need to book, you can drop in and speak to colleagues from Cancer Research UK and the teams who support cancer screening.
Find out more about the roadshows