11 SEPTEMBER 2019

The build-up to Mouth Cancer Action Month is well and truly underway. For those of you who don’t know, this is our nationwide campaign to raise awareness of a disease that affects thousands of Brits every single year. It runs throughout November, but for me and 20 other brave campaigners, the action starts this weekend.

We will be heading to Wales to take on not one, but two mountains over the course to the weekend and walking over 17km in the process.

But why?

Well, this event is just one of a number of different exciting physical challenges with Moveit4smiles which have the goal of ultimately raising awareness of mouth cancer and one of the leading causes of the disease, the human papillomavirus (otherwise known as HPV). Two topics that we urgently need to shine a light on and bring to your attention.

Rates of mouth cancer have never been higher. Over 8,300 people are diagnosed with mouth cancer each year, or in other words, one person almost every hour. Sadly, over the year, so many lives have been taken and if we don’t take action now, time will continue to run out for many more people.

But there is hope.

Together we can real difference and things are already beginning to look brighter for the future. Rates of smoking, one of the leading causes of mouth cancer, are dropping year-on-year and more people are aware of the toll that drinking too much alcohol can have on our bodies.

One of the biggest causes for optimism that we have in our fight against mouth cancer is the vaccination against HPV which, from this month, will be offered to both boys and girls to the very first time.

It’s a vaccine that could save countless lives, not just from mouth cancer but from many other diseases that pose a threat to those we hold nearest and dearest.  This is why it’s so important that we spread information about this vaccination programme and make sure we protect the lives of many, both now and in the future for generations to come.

We all have a part to play to achieve this and together we can reach the summit. But much like our trek across Snowdonia, there is still a long way to go.

Please help us get there. With your support we can bring potentially life-saving information to people across the country about mouth cancer and HPV. Every donation, regardless of how big or how small, will make a difference and all will be greatly received.

Thank you so much for supporting us and helping to tackle rates of mouth cancer, spread information about HPV and why it’s so important that the nation’s schoolchildren receive that potentially life-saving vaccination.

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