Fearne Cotton and 100 other supporters of CoppaFeel! will be completing the Bath Half Marathon on Sunday 6 March, 2011 in a world record attempt to raise the most money during a half marathon.
Fearne who is no stranger to running will be leading the 100 strong army dressed as giant boobs to raise awareness of the lively charity that educates young women on the importance of checking their boobs regularly and knowing the signs and symptoms of breast cancer. CoppaFeel! was founded in October 2009 by Kristin Hallenga who herself was misdiagnosed twice with breast cancer at age 23; and now lives with secondary breast cancer.
Fearne said: “I run almost every day, but not in a sea of giant boobs! It’s going to be so much fun and create a lot of awareness for this great cause.”
CoppaFeel!’s celebrity patron and the rest of the boob army will also be joined by another very special friend of the charity; 27 year old Jenny Steele who owes her life to the charity. Having been turned away from the doctor twice being told she was “too young to get breast cancer”; Jenny’s concerns were only heard when she returned a third time with an article about CoppaFeel! in her hand demanding to be referred.
“I’m not sure if it wasn’t for your (CoppaFeel!’s) article if I would have gone back to the doctor as soon as I did and things could have turned out quite differently. I can’t thank you enough.” Said Jenny.
The event dubbed ‘100 Hooters Do A Half’ needs to raise £1000 to break the world record, but aims to raise upward of £10,000. All monies raised from sponsorship will go towards developing and implementing innovative education and awareness campaigns to get young people coppin-a-feel (the best form of defense against this disease which kills over 12,000 Britons each year.)
This bold, cheeky approach is nothing new to CoppaFeel! who pride themselves on delivering their messages in new and innovative ways in order to appeal their young target audience.
“We don’t want people to buy a pink product and think that they have done their bit for breast cancer. We want them to check their boobs regularly and know what they are checking for. In order to influence such a behavioural change we have to be clever, we have to be cheeky, and we have to be different; and we are!” Said Kristin.
CoppaFeel! aims to stamp out late detection and misdiagnosis of breast cancer by ensuring that people know the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, know what their boobs look and feel like normally, check their boobs regularly throughout their lifetime and have the confidence to seek medical referral when they detect abnormalities.
Currently 5% of diagnosed cases are already at stage IV with breast cancer being the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women under 30 years in the UK (181 new cases diagnosed and 12 deaths annually). CoppaFeel! strives for a country where no one dies of breast cancer because of late detection or misdiagnosis. The charity receives no government funding and relies solely on voluntary donations.
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