How often do you really Coppafeel!? On Friday 26th October 2012, CoppaFeel! celebrated its third birthday with many of the Boob Teams up and down the country holding celebratory events to mark the occasion; Leeds Uni’s very own Boob Team being just one of them. All the teams had great success and each added their own unique touch to celebrate spreading the CoppaFeel! message.
What is that message I hear you ask? CoppaFeel! are a breast cancer awareness charity who campaign to draw people’s attention to the signs of breast cancer and educate people in what they should be looking for when checking themselves. The Leeds Uni Boob Team, in association with Her Campus, joined forces to make sure you remembered to check your boobs regularly!
Amy Howell a third year Geography student who is head of the Leeds Uni Boob Team explained:
“I feel this is a really important campaign as students are often ignorant about the fact that diseases such as breast cancer can affect younger people too. By regularly checking yourself and getting to know your boobs you are significantly helping yourself and it is a habit everyone should get into. CoppaFeel! is such a fun charity and their message truly is a memorable one!”
CoppaFeel! was set up by Kristin Hallenga, who sadly got breast cancer at the age of 24, but rather than letting it defeat her she’s battled courageously; all this while trying to help the cause and make people aware that this illness can affect young women and men too.
Alongside her twin sister Kristen set up CoppaFeel! just one month after being diagnosed and made it her mission to raise as much awareness as possible, appearing in the national press and TV, and bringing her story to universities all over the country. This was all done with the goal of trying to prevent any other young people from suffering a similar fate, which so far has been an almighty success and thousands have signed up to the text service. Unfortunately after a second diagnosis Kristen isn’t yet Cancer-free and it’s questionable whether she ever will be, but she continues to fight for the CoppaFeel! cause.
So being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, now is the perfect time to be checking your breasts ladies! It’s so simple to do; the hardest part is remembering to do it! Have no fear, the Leeds Boob Team are here to help!
· If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up to CoppaFeel!’s free text reminder service, where each month you’ll receive a free text with a little reminder to check your boobs! Just text LEEDS to 70500 to join.
· Okay so you’ve signed up to get the text message once a month but I bet you’ve still got more questions – like when is the best time to be checking your boobs? Any time can be the perfect moment, just make sure you do actually do it! However this summer, CoppaFeel! launched their ‘CoppaFeel! in the shower’ campaign. You may as well give it a go as let’s face it, you’re already naked anyway. So why not give your boobs a quick check?
· Plus make sure girls that you remind your male friends, boyfriends, brothers and dads to be checking too. Did you know that 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year? So men certainly need to keep an eye out too! Hence the ‘Male Cancer Awareness Charity’ (MCAC) trying to bring the ‘CoppaFeel! in the shower’ to all student’s attention and get them incorporating it into their daily routine!
Kristin Hallenga says,“By educating the young people of today, we can shape the future of breast cancer survival in times to come. Knowledge is power and this power will in turn, save lives. I only wish that someone shared this knowledge with me.”
For more information about CoppaFeel! visit www.coppafeel.org/sites/leeds or the CoppaFeel! University of Leeds Facebook page to discover a whole load more information and see how you can get involved!
Get CoppaFeel(ing)!