- M&S to donate 10% of all women’s fitness clothing and sports bra sales to the charity Breast Cancer Now
London, 2016-Sep-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — WOMEN who are regularly active are helping to protect themselves against breast cancer according to charity Breast Cancer Now, with 30 minutes of activity a day reducing the risk by at least 20 per cent.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, M&S is calling upon its customers to ‘Spark Something Good’ and show support for Breast Cancer Now by getting active. The retailer will be donating 10 per cent of all women’s fitness clothing and sports bra sales to the charity in order to raise funds.
Seven inspirational women – Amanda Jones (74), Fiona Coaton (30), Lindsay Partridge (52), Miranda Ashitey (34), Sarah Falola (44), Sera Bains (45) and Mandie Stevenson (26) – all of whom have been affected by breast cancer, have been chosen by M&S to model the collection.
The seven ladies will also share video diaries on how to embrace daily activity whilst telling their own unique and empowering stories on social media using #letsgetmoving. The retailer is encouraging the public to take on a 7 Day Challenge and pledge to be active for 30 minutes a day.
Breast Cancer Now states that women do not need to run on a treadmill or go to a spin class to reduce their risk; there are several other ‘less gym, more fun’ ways to get active for 30 minutes a day.
Eluned Hughes of Breast Cancer Now said: “We want women to know how important it is to get active. Studies show that just 30 minutes of activity per day can help reduce your risk of getting breast cancer by at least 20%. This can be something as simple as walking to work, gardening or taking the family out for a bike ride. Any activity that makes you warmer, breathe harder and makes your heart beat faster counts.”
In light of this, M&S and Breast Cancer Now have teamed up with Strictly Come Dancing 2006 winner Karen Hardy to create a simple dance routine that can make even those with ‘two left feet’ keep healthy and help reduce their risk of breast cancer.
To kick-start the campaign Karen will be hosting ‘Move it in the Park’, a free, one-off dance fitness class in Hyde Park today (27th September 2016), where the routine will be performed for the first time.
The dance can help raise heartbeat levels and therefore, would count towards the 30 minutes of daily activity that can help reduce the risk of breast cancer by at least 20%.
Karen Hardy said: “Dancing and going to the gym are obvious ways of keeping fit, however there are so many activities that can get your heart rate up – many of which you’re probably already doing on a weekly basis. Even simple chores like vacuuming the house or doing the gardening can make a difference.
“I was definitely surprised that being active can have that much of an impact on the risk of getting breast cancer and what is great is that by being more conscious in what you do daily you’ll be able to see just how easy it is to hit the 30 minute target.”
M&S and Breast Cancer Now aim to raise £13 million over five years in a bid to prevent 9,000 cases of breast cancer a year by 2025.
The money raised will go towards Breast Cancer Now’s scientists to help them in their research to understand the risk factors for breast cancer and how they might use that knowledge to calculate an individual woman’s risk. It is hoped this will lead to the development of a risk assessment tool that will better inform women of the options available to them based on their personal risk of breast cancer in the future.
Women in the UK have, on average, a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.
For ways you can support this Breast Cancer Awareness Month visit http://www.marksandspencer.com/s/lingerie/breast-cancer-now
Notes To Editors
* Strictly Come Dancing is the registered trademark of the BBC.
About Breast Cancer Now:
- M&S has worked with Breast Cancer Now (via its heritage charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer) since 2001. During this time, M&S has raised £20 million for the charity’s cutting-edge research, including the Generations Study, a study following more than 113,000 UK women over 40 years to help better understand the causes of breast cancer.
- Breast Cancer Now is the UK’s largest breast cancer charity.
- Breast Cancer Now’s ambition is that by 2050 everyone who develops breast cancer will live. The charity is determined to stop women dying from the disease, working in a new, collaborative way and bringing together all those affected by the disease to fund research, share knowledge and find answers.
- Breast Cancer Now’s world-class research is focused entirely on breast cancer. The charity supports nearly 400 of the world’s brightest researchers at more than 30 locations across the UK and Ireland. Together, they’re working to discover how to prevent breast cancer, how to detect it earlier and how to treat it effectively at every stage so we can stop the disease taking lives.
- Breast cancer is still the most common cancer in the UK. Nearly 700,000 people living in the UK have experienced a diagnosis and one in eight women will face it in their lifetime. This year alone, more than 50,000 women will be told they have the disease.
- The UK still has one of the lowest breast cancer survival rates in Western Europe and this year alone around 11,500 women and 80 men will lose their lives. It’s time to act.
- Breast Cancer Now launched in June 2015, created by the merger of leading research charities Breast Cancer Campaign and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
- For more information on Breast Cancer Now’s work, visit breastcancernow.org or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.
About Spark Something Good:
- Spark Something Good is M&S’ way of helping customers and colleagues make a real difference. Whether it’s getting involved in the community through Charity of the Year activity, Shwopping old clothes or supporting M&S’s efforts to help beat cancer (with Breast Cancer Now and Macmillan). It encourages customers to join in and ‘Spark Something Good’. It is an important element of M&S’ Plan A programme – Marks & Spencer’s eco and ethical programme that tackles both today’s and tomorrow’s sustainable retail challenges.
For further information / interviews / images:
Vishal Rana
vishal@hellounity.com
020 7440 9828
Robyn Swan
robyn@hellounity.com
020 7440 9810
Andrew Soar
andrew.soar@hellounity.com
020 7440 9817
For further information on Marks & Spencer:
Daniel Himsworth
daniel.himsworth@marks-and-spencer.com
020 8718 1618
For further information about Breast Cancer Now please contact:
press office
07436 107 914.
Source: Marks & Spencer
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