Breast Cancer Awareness Month – October 2012

As October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we based our meeting around the theme of Boobs!

We had the lovely Sally and Sarah, two Boobettes from the charity CoppaFeel, talk to us about breast cancer and the importance of self-examination, even at an early age.  CoppaFeel is a charity started by Kris Hallenga after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 23. CoppaFeel aims to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of self-examination, particularly amongst younger women, in a bid to prevent breast cancer deaths caused by late diagnosis. Both Sally and Sarah who spoke to us on the night had been diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, but thankfully had beaten their cancers and shared their stories with us.

Cancer isn’t an easy topic to talk about, but the ladies are passionate about raising awareness to help make sure that other people can stand a better chance in future, if the worst should happen. Early detection is the best form of defence against cancer

The CoppaFeel website has lots of information about breast cancer and self-examination, which we recommend you check out and make sure you know the signs and symptoms, just in case.  CoppaFeel also offer a text reminder service, where you can get a monthly text message to remind you to check yourself – so you don’t have to be thinking about it all the time.

On a lighter note, we also had Mary from Hidden Agenda Lingerie speak to us about bras and how to get one that fits properly. As well as teaching us a bit about the history and social impacts of the bra, Mary also gave a demonstration on bra fitting with a little bit of help from committee member Hannah. Now personally, I think Hannah looked great in her ‘before’ bra, but I was stunned by the effect the new, better fitting bra had. Wow!

It’s no wonder that so many of you there on the night took Mary up on her offer to measure anyone who was interested. Has anyone splashed out and treated themselves to any new underwear since the meeting?

With a bit less of a jam-packed schedule for the evening it was nice to get some time to just chat and socialise amongst ourselves – it was especially nice for us on the committee, as often the rush to organise things means we don’t get to talk to the rest of you as much as we would like!

In aid of charity, there was also cake available (for a donation to CoppaFeel), the boob cakes were baked by Katie and the pink cakes were baked by Liz.

Our member Susa also brought along information about the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance who collect old bras as part of their fundraising. Thank you to everyone who brought along their old bras on the night, we will still have collection bags at the November meeting so bring along all those bras you know don’t fit anymore!

Thank you to everyone who came along to the meeting, we hope you had as much fun as we did. Also, many thanks to Sally, Sarah and Mary for taking the time to speak to us.

Our November meeting will be Christmas Crafts on Tuesday 27th November, 7.30 til 9.30pm in The Slug and Lettuce – we’re back in the Slug as the lighting is slightly better than Que Pasa for crafting purposes.

The monthly craft meeting returns on Tuesday 13th November from 7.30pm in Cafe Creme on Bedford Place. Help out with Days for Girl sewing, bring your own craft project or pick up some new skills from other members while you enjoy a cup of tea and a slice of cake (or whatever else takes your fancy from the Cafe Creme menu – the Hot Chocolate is lovely!).

If you still aren’t a member yet (and why not?) you can now join for the 2013 price of £33 which will see you through until the end of 2013. Existing members – you can renew your membership from January for £33.

Don’t forget, if you have any suggestions or comments, you can get in touch through the blog, Facebook page, website, by emailing info@sotonettes.co.uk or by speaking to us at our meetings.

Many Thanks,

Sotonettes Committee

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