Our new Patron, Margo Cornish

Earlier this year at our Thank You Evening, it was announced that you had become a new Patron for our charity. How did it feel to be given this prestigious role for Prevent Breast Cancer? What does it mean to you?

It is a great honour to have been asked to be a patron of such a wonderful charity. By becoming a patron, it will undoubtedly give me a wider platform and a louder voice in supporting the charity in it’s mission to help make breast cancer a disease of the past.

Could you tell us what the role of Patron involves?

As a patron I will be an advocate for the charity and it’s goals. I look forward to continuing to seek out opportunities to promote the charity and awareness of breast cancer as well as looking for ways to fundraise to help continue the valuable work of the team here at the Nightingale Centre.

You were made patron in recognition of the hugely important role you played in making our first ever BreastFest such a success. How would you sum up BreastFest and what were your personal highlights?

BreastFest wasn’t just about fundraising, it was also about raising awareness and highlighting the impact that this awful disease is having on all our lives as women. Being able to reach out to as many women as possible here in Manchester and beyond and help give them a new mindset and toolkit for better breast health was our main goal and I am confident we achieved this.

There were so many highlights, starting off with Pride and seeing how the crowds reacted to our BooBee “check yourself” song.

Watching the Pink Double Decker BooBee Bus pull into the car park at the Nightingale Centre for the first time was truly breathtaking.

The Afternoon Bee was hard work for all of us but such an amazing few hours filled with fun, entertainment with important health awareness messages.

But I think that being able to bring together an amazing group of women, all whom had been affected by breast cancer and with a common purpose, watching them grow stronger together and reach out to other women was above all else the most significant highlight for me.

Are you able to give us any insider news as to what’s coming up for BreastFest in 2020?

Lots….it just gets bigger and better. We had so many stories from women who told us that they found their lump whilst on holiday….a time when they were more conscious of their body or maybe felt a lump when applying sun cream or even deciding to book that overdue mammogram whilst lying on the beach. So BooBee will be back,  but this time she will be stressing the importance of having time for yourself and your health.

We will also be reviewing our BooBee merchandise and looking at adding products that will not only raise money for the charity but remind women to keep checking.

Last but by no means least we will be making a new video of our BooBee song with Annie Handbag and our Manchester BooBees, so watch out for this around the autumn.

We will also be looking at ways and opportunities to take our Manchester pink BooBee further afield nationally and even internationally.

How did you become involved with Prevent Breast Cancer? Can you tell us how you became aware of us and what drew you to the charity?

That’s simple…because I was fed up of hearing about friends and friends of friends who had been diagnosed. I personally had a wake up call.

Also, through my work with Maggie’s Manchester, I noticed that there was a very high proportion of women living with breast cancer and have witnessed both the success stories and the tragedies, I felt I had to do more.

Your story may inspire others to become more actively involved with Prevent Breast Cancer.  What would you say to someone who was thinking of fundraising for us, or helping us to share our important health messages about breast cancer?

Do it….this work is so important, not just to this generation of women but those yet to come. Your input can definitely save lives, we have proof.  So many women are walking about blinkered to the threat of breast cancer and you can help change this.

And finally, you’ve already made an enormous contribution to our charity, what drives you to continue?

Passion.  Knowing that it is possible change things for the better, change the statistics and make breast cancer a disease of the past. I have three daughters so I don’t want them to have to live with the same threat.