Wear It Pink to help fight cancer
In what has long since become a traditional annual event that is anticipated and dreaded in equal measure, the good folk from the breast cancer research charity, Breast Cancer Now, turned up at parliament with their bag of outlandish props and garish outfits, ready to humiliate your elected members.
It is, of course, a humiliation that is happily borne because we all recognise the importance of the issue behind all the silly frivolity.
Whether it is friends, family members, or even ourselves, there can be few of us who haven’t been affected by breast cancer in one way or another.
Between 2012 and 2016, an average of 365 women in Tayside were diagnosed with cancer every year.
That means, every single day, someone in Tayside is being told that they have breast cancer.
Over that same period, on average, 87 women a year lost their lives to breast cancer.
It is a dreadful disease, but it is a disease that can be beaten.
Breast Cancer Now is the UK’s largest breast cancer charity and they are determined that we can reach the point where everyone who contracts breast cancer will live.
In pursuit of that ambition, they are supporting nearly 380 researchers across the country as well as funding 85 different research grants worth around £25 million at 21 institutions across the UK and Ireland.
Taking part in Wear It Pink supports that work.
Since the first Wear It Pink event was held in 2012, more than £31.5m has been raised for life-saving research.
I can think of few other organisations who could persuade me to go in front of a camera in a pink trilby, clutching a stuffed flamingo.
But it is all in an extremely good cause and everyone is absolutely delighted to take part and to help publicise Wear It Pink day, which this year takes place on Friday, October 19.
You don’t have to go quite as over the top as the MSP publicity shots, but I would encourage everyone to make the effort to add a touch of pink to their outfit on the day.
Maybe also think about tying it in with a workplace fundraising event for breast cancer research – there are already 529 Wear It Pink events arranged for 2018 and the people at Breast Cancer Now would be delighted to hear about more.
But the really important aspect of WearIt Pink day is about raising awareness, supporting breast cancer charities and supporting the incredibly important work that they do. Roseanna Cunningham MSP dons pink to help fight breast cancer