Healthwatch Newham’s ‘The Value of Listening’ event

North East London Cancer Alliance joined Newham residents and partners in Canning Town Library on 1 October to raise awareness of cancer signs and symptoms. This is part of an ongoing piece of work to engage with local communities to help spot cancer sooner, when it is easier to treat.

The event, entitled ‘The Value of Listening’, was Healthwatch Newham’s first in-person public event. Taken from Healthwatch England’s national theme, the half-day event provided the opportunity for Healthwatch Newham to showcase its work, introduce the team and invite key guest speakers to talk about some of the exciting work being developed with residents to support their health and wellbeing.

The event was attended by residents and professionals from the local voluntary and community sector, giving participants an opportunity to find out more about future health plans and to also help Healthwatch Newham to identify their priorities for 2025-2026.

To represent local cancer services, Mohammad Haider (Urology Clinical Research Fellow, Barts Health NHS Trust) and Apple Dumagat (Urology Clinical Research Fellow, Barts Health NHS Trust) attended the event, along with Sherrice Weekes and Rishi Athwal from North East London Cancer Alliance.

Mohammad delivered an informative and compelling talk about prostate cancer symptoms and risk factors, generating lots of discussion.

North East London Cancer Alliance also had an information stall to hand out leaflets and talk about cancer with local residents. Many people wanted to discuss prostate cancer awareness following Mohammad’s talk.

There were also talks delivered by Newham Health Collaborative, Newham Parent Carer Forum, Maternity Voices and Well Newham teams.

Sherrice Weekes, Project Manager for North East London Cancer Alliance, said “Talking to local residents directly is the most effective way for us to understand the barriers to communities coming forward for life-saving cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment.

“This event was no exception. It was really well attended, and Mohammad did a fantastic job in highlighting key facts about prostate cancer, which resulted in a lot of further conversations. Hopefully this will help improve the health and wellbeing of residents in Newham.”

For more information about prostate cancer, visit our It’s Not A Game campaign page.

For more information about cancer signs and symptoms, visit our web page.