Working with Leyton Orient FC to raise cancer awareness

On Saturday 29 October, North East London Cancer Alliance teamed up with Leyton Orient FC for their match against Salford City FC to raise awareness of cancer.

Focussing on four of the main cancer types in men – bowel, prostate, stomach and lung – we attended the game with local stop smoking service Quit Right Tower Hamlets, Barts Health Dental Health team, BHRUT Bowel Screening and Community Links (who are working on cancer awareness across our diverse communities in north east London).

Throughout the day, we spoke to a number of local residents to highlight the importance of getting checked if you have signs or symptoms of cancer, as well as handing out leaflets with essential cancer information on as part of our ‘Cancer, It’s Not A Game’ awareness campaign. Dr Will Ricketts, a consultant from Barts Health, and Dr Frank Chinegwundoh MBE, consultant urological surgeon from Barts Health, were both on hand to answer any questions from the public.

We were supported by volunteers from the Leyton Orient Football Club Trust, as pictured below, and their help on the day was greatly appreciated.

This campaign has been running for the last few months to encourage men to get any signs or symptoms of cancer checked by their GP as soon as possible. Local sporting celebrities are helping us to get the message across.  They know how important it is not to be afraid and to take quick action!

The event on Saturday was just one of a number of initiatives we are working on to tackle inequalities, raise cancer awareness amongst men in our deprived areas of north east London and to spot cancer sooner, helping save more lives.

And the good news too was that our local team, Leyton Orient, FC, won the game 1-0!

For more information about our campaign, visit our ‘It’s Not a Game’ webpage.