Supporting staff at Tower Hamlets Council with cancer awareness

North East London Cancer Alliance and The Eve Appeal shared invaluable cancer information at a special staff event held on 6 February at Tower Hamlets Town Hall. The staff networks at London Borough of Tower Hamlets hosted the event to support World Cancer Day, which had the theme this year of #CloseTheCareGap.

Karen Hobbs, Advocacy and Media Consultant for The Eve Appeal and Paul Thomas, Communications and Engagement Manager for North East London Cancer Alliance, were guest speakers at the event and spoke to staff about cancer awareness and, specifically, a womb cancer campaign which aims to address health inequalities across north east London.

You Need to Know

The campaign, called You Need to Know, has recently been shortlisted for an award, along with celebrating its first anniversary. It aims to increase awareness of womb cancer amongst Black African, Black Caribbean and South Asian women in north east London, as data tells us there is currently a gap in early diagnosis of womb cancer amongst these communities.

Karen from The Eve Appeal led an engaging talk packed full of really useful information about womb cancer and the main symptom being bleeding after the menopause. Considering such a serious topic, Karen’s humour and personable manner captured the audience, who stayed long after the talk to ask questions and put forward their ideas.

Karen said “Talking directly to people about our campaign is always so useful, as we always learn more about barriers, gaps and myths around gynae cancers.

‘’Today was no exception. Again, we had a query raised about cervical screening and what it actually tests for. Some were surprised to learn that while cervical screening is a life-saving test which helps to prevent cervical cancer, it is not a test for the other gynae cancers – womb, ovarian, vaginal, and vulval.

‘It’s so important that people are aware of the signs and symptoms of these cancers. Don't hesitate to discuss any changes with your doctor, like unusual bleeding, pelvic pain, or vulvar changes, even after menopause.”

Find out more about gynae cancers on The Eve Appeal website.

Watch the You Need to Know campaign video.

Awareness of cancer signs and symptoms and screening programmes

As well as a focus on womb cancer, the team from the cancer alliance hosted an information stand to talk about general signs and symptoms and to promote the main screening programmes – bowel, breast and cervical – which help to save lives.

Paul Thomas, Communications and Engagement Manager for North East London Cancer Alliance, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity to reach out to local people about cancer, in the inspirational setting of the Tower Hamlets Town Hall.

“People were having conversations with us not just for themselves, but so they could share really important information with their family, friends and colleagues. The more people we speak to, the many more we actually reach.

“Ultimately our goal is to make sure everyone in north east London has access to cancer information which could help to save their life. If you have any ideas for how we can get this information out to more local communities, please get in touch.”

For more information

Follow us on YouTube to watch our cancer videos that were shown at the event. 

Visit The Eve Appeal website.

Read more about cancer screening programmes.

Watch our videos on top tips for a healthier you.