BooBee

Our BooBee Ambassadors are women who have been affected by breast cancer, and who have made it their mission to spread the importance of being breast aware and to fundraise for Prevent Breast Cancer, towards a future without breast cancer.

For each campaign we have successfully appointed 100 women, who have then shared their experiences of breast cancer with the general public through various channels, including blogs, in the media and face to face on our BooBee bus. Many have also had starring roles in our flagship fundraising events.

Multiple lifelong friendships have been formed, and many of the women continue to engage, educate and inspire, with the aim of preventing breast cancer for future generations.

In October 2019, to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Prevent Breast Cancer launched its first ever Breastfest Campaign.

The aims of Breastfest were –

• To make Greater Manchester the most breast aware area in the UK
• Equip women with the knowledge to understand the different risk factors and symptoms of breast cancer
• Recruit 100 women who have all been affected by breast cancer – empowering them to share their stories and to be part of something incredible throughout the entire campaign
• To showcase the world-leading Manchester based experts who aim to prevent breast cancer for future generations.
• To raise funds to support the work of Prevent Breast Cancer

The star of the campaign was our BooBee Bus – our bright-pink, bee-adorned double decker. The bus went on tour, visiting 23 sites across Greater Manchester and enabled the charity to reach a wide audience and spread awareness of breast cancer risk throughout the region. Sites visited included, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Market Street, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester Airport and Longsight Market. For the Breastfest campaign itself, we successfully recruited over 120 women, who were known as our BooBees, who all had first-hand account of having breast cancer. They then became the face of this mobile campaign, offering real life stories to the general public and answering any questions they had regarding breast cancer.

During our first campaign, we had a mobile unit in the form of a huge double decker, bright pink bus, adorned in bees. We visited 23 sites across Greater Manchester, including Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly Station. You couldn’t miss us as we definitely stood out from the crowds. The tour enabled us to reach a wide audience, encouraging the women (and men!) of the city to hop on board and learn all about breast awareness. By the end, we’d handed out 9,000 handy pocket cards asking the public to get to know their breasts! 

We were then delighted to announce our involvement in ITV’s Lorraine’s Change + Check campaign, which to this day, educates women on the importance of checking their breasts. They had their own Boob Bus, which headed up to Manchester to join forces with our BooBee Bus. Stationed outside the Great Northern, the women of the city were encouraged to visit the buses to meet inspirational women on board and learn some potentially life-saving advice.

Our Afternoon Bee event – an afternoon tea with a difference – was one of the highlights of the initial campaign. Taking place in Manchester Central, the event kicked off with a BooBee Talk.

After the talk – and a few canapes – over 700 glamorous attendees headed into the venue, which had to be seen to be believed! The whole space was adorned with stunning floral displays, flooded with pink lights, and surrounded by light-up beehives, which made the perfect setting for our guests as they enjoyed their healthy afternoon tea. After everyone was seated, our incredible team of BooBees took to the stage, where they were greeted with rapturous applause from the audience. 

We had an afternoon full of fun and entertainment – Manchester’s favourite crooner Paul Pashley serenaded the audience and our BooBees and the Destiny Choir sung for us, before a team of women who formed the collective ‘Tits Up’ gave a touching performance depicting their experiences of breast cancer. Next up, we had a brilliant turn from performer Annie Handbag, followed by a hilarious set by comedienne Mandy Tootill. And for the big finale we had the Figleaves catwalk show, where some of our fabulous supporters dared to bare all! 

The whole event was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, but everyone had a brilliant time.

Before The Afternoon Bee, we hosted our very first BooBee Talk. Chaired by the fabulous Michelle Eagleton, it featured a panel of experts who work alongside Prevent Breast Cancer. The talk allowed the experts to tell the audience about their work in preventing cancer for future generations, and for the audience to ask any questions. We as a charity feel it is important that our supporters know where their fundraising money is going, and it was great to hear about the research we fund.

To help make Manchester the most breast aware area in the UK, we’ve been lucky enough to have our own float at the last two Manchester Pride parades. The parade allows our BooBees chance to engage with the public, spread awareness, and most importantly, have fun and let their hair down.

At both parades, the BooBees have also introduced the general public to their extremely catchy BooBee theme song – Check Your BooBees! Be warned, once listened to, it’ll be buzzing around your head for days!

We anticipate we’ll be in this year’s parade, so make sure to give us a wave from the crowd!

BooBee returned with a bang in 2022, for BooBee’s Big Campaign – Prevent Breast Cancer’s latest drive to make Manchester the most breast aware city in the UK.

We successfully appointed another 100 BooBees, including the return of some fabulous ladies who took part in our initial BooBee campaign in 2019. The BooBee bus also made a return, and over eight days, with the help of our BooBees and volunteers, the bus visited seven different sites across Manchester, with the lowest uptake of breast screening. These areas are also in some of the most deprived parts of the region. By visiting these particular areas, the aim was to promote the vital importance of breast screening, including who should attend and explain what actually happens during a screening.

This year, as part of the campaign’s fundraising element, we introduced the BooBee calendar, which featured 24 strong and beautiful of our BooBees, baring all.

Many of the 2022 BooBees have shared their breast cancer experiences through the medium of blogs, so make sure to have a read and learn more about why they came on board for the latest campaign.

The flagship fundraising event for the latest BooBee campaign was BooBee presents Bingo Bedlam.

From lingerie catwalks to absolute bonkers games of bingo, it was a night like no other. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. We’re sure many pairs of feet were hurting the next day…definitely a sign of a good night! There were moments of emotion as our BooBees took to the stage to share their stories, but this was juxtaposed with the pure joy of everybody letting loose and dancing like nobody was watching. Smiles were in abundance, and deep belly laughs were the order of the night.

We’re hoping to repeat an evening of Bingo Bedlam in the near future, so watch this space.

Show your support for BooBee and treat yourself to some of our BooBee merchandise, with all proceeds donated to Prevent Breast Cancer.

Three of our original BooBees, Roma, Jenny and Heather even created their own cookbook – More Than A Manchester Tart. The book has over 150 original recipes and 100% of the proceeds support preventing breast cancer for future generations. Buy yours today.