A bright pink bus has visited Salford to combat low levels of breast cancer screening.
The eye-catching vehicle was parked outside Pendleton Way’s Tesco Extra with volunteer ambassadors, referred to as the hive of “BooBees”, onboard to encourage shoppers to be screened when invited.
The bus visited Salford as screening uptake in Greater Manchester is currently at 53.2 per cent, which has fallen below the national average of 64.2 per cent. In the UK every year 20,000 cases are caught through screening alone.
The BooBee bus is part of charity Prevent Breast Cancer’s campaign to raise awareness across Greater Manchester.
The ‘BooBee’s’ onboard have all been affected by breast cancer and they want to share their stories to encourage women and men to get to know their bodies, check their bodies regularly for any change, and to remind those who are 50+ of the importance of attending their breast screening appointments.
One of the BooBee’s, Jenny Sullivan, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. After finding a small lump and thinking nothing of it, it returned with a vengeance. “It was only 10% away from being in my lymph nodes which usually means it’s terminal,” Jenny said. “I was lucky I got seen when I did.
“After my treatment my confidence was at an all-time low and through doing this, my confidence has gone back up.”
The BooBee bus campaign had its first tour in 2019 before Covid but is now back.
Caroline Bennison, community fundraiser for Prevent Breast Cancer, said: “In certain cultures, taking about breasts in general can be taboo. We’re trying to get the information out there in a clear way so it’s accessible for everybody.
“The message that we’re promoting here at Prevent Breast Cancer today is for women between the ages of 50 and 70 who would be invited to go to the national breast screening programme to make sure that when the letter comes through inviting them to make an appointment, that they do make an appointment.
“It is really important because it catches any changes in the breast tissue when they’re at a teeny tiny level before any physical symptoms will come up.”
The BooBee’s campaign is not only reminding Manchester to attend screenings but also bringing with it a community of women who have experienced breast cancer. “Coming together as part of the campaign actually shared the experiences between the ladies” Caroline said, “it’s nice to see that kind of thing happening as well.”
The Prevent Breast Cancer charity has been running for more than 25 years, based at Wythenshawe Hospital in the Nightingale Centre. The Nightingale Centre is a specialist breast cancer unit and is the only prevention centre in the country. The Manchester breast centre at the university works in conjunction with the work Prevent Breast Cancer does.
The bus has been borrowed from Manchester airport. When the tour is complete, the bus will remain pink and continue transporting passengers around the airport.
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