12 October 2015

During November we want you to go blue and show your support for Mouth Cancer Action Month. The month-long campaign depends on the efforts of our supporters to raise donations in the fight against mouth cancer, so we need your help.

Organised by the British Dental Health Foundation, Mouth Cancer Action Month spreads awareness of mouth cancer far and wide. This year we are asking you to go blue and get involved with this life saving campaign. There are so many ways to take part, how you do it is not important, what is important is that you do it.

With your support we hope to make this year’s campaign the biggest yet with hundreds of thousands of people up and down the country pinning their blue ribbons with pride, sharing their #bluelipselfie and turning themselves blue on Blue Wednesday.

Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, highlighted how you can get involved: “Mouth cancer is one of the UK’s fastest increasing cancers, with cases up by almost 40 per cent in the last decade alone. Being on the frontline in the fight against mouth cancer, your support and participation remains instrumental in helping us combat it. We are incredibly excited about this year’s campaign, getting involved is easier than ever and everybody’s support with go a long way to beating mouth cancer.

“Synonymous with the fight against mouth cancer, the Blue Ribbon Appealmakes a triumphant return. Over the last few years more than 250,000 of you have worn the ribbon with pride and this year we want you to go even further. Don’t just buy one for yourself, get your family, friends and colleagues to wear one too! Each blue ribbon badge costs just £1, but that money goes a long way in helping us to achieve our goals.

“What we would really like to see is the blue ribbon becoming the starting point of your campaign activity; there are so many other exciting ways to take part.”

As part of Mouth Cancer Action Month, on 18 November we are hosting Blue Wednesday, and it’s your chance to firmly get your teeth into the campaign. Dye your hair, paint your face, bake a cake or wear a blue tie, any way you turn yourself blue helps to spread awareness. And what to do when you’re blue? Make sure people know about it with a fundraising event.

Whether you have an event you’re already planning or need some inspiration, we’ve got all your fundraising answers… read some of our ideas and steps you should follow when you are planning your Mouth Cancer Action Month event. Get involved and make sure you have fun doing it.

“Once again, our main sponsors Denplan are running their popular Blue Lip Selfie campaign to support Mouth Cancer Action Month and generate even more public awareness,” added Dr Carter.

Dr Henry Clover, Deputy Chief Dental Officer at Denplan, said: “We were delighted with the fantastic response to the Blue Lip Selfie campaign last year, and we have an ideal opportunity to reach more people than ever in 2015.

“To make it easy for everyone to get involved, we’ve created a special microsite and gallery at www.bluelipselfie.co.uk. Users can upload photos of themselves wearing blue lipstick or they can customise selfies with fun blue cartoon lips using the app. Participants can also submit their Blue Lip Selfies using #BlueLipSelfie on Twitter or Instagram, and the app will automatically pull selfies into the official gallery. We’re hoping #BlueLipSelfie will go viral and push our message far and wide to help raise awareness of the disease, risks and symptoms.”

Unfortunately, survival rates for those with mouth cancer have not improved in the last 20 years but with your support we have the perfect opportunity to get more mouth cancers diagnosed at an early stage and beat this killer disease for good.