Community Engagement

The Bus-Ting Cancer Tour was an NHS England initiative to which the Cancer Champions were invited by Michelle Ashbridge. The bus was parked in Barnsley Centre on a Wednesday, with the aim to talk to people about the early signs and symptoms of Cancer and to increase cancer awareness.

There was staff present from NHS England, Freudplus, Macmillan, CRUK, Barnsley Council and Barnsley Cancer Champions. 

On the day staff had approximately 550 conversations. A lot of people who engaged with the bus had someone with cancer close to them or cancer themselves, so generally there was a sad sentiment among those engaged, but they were all very happy to see the bus and pleased it was there.

Most people seemed to know what to look out for concerning signs and symptoms, but a lot of people noted that GP surgeries are very busy and they struggle to get through to receptions or get an appointment. 

It was also a great opportunity to discuss the nearby community diagnostic centre, as an alternative place for screening rather than the hospital. Some people commented on how welcoming it felt and that it was a pleasant experience. For more information on the diagnostic centre click here. 

Around 600 leaflets were handed out which had been provided by NHS England, and people were very positive about them, noting that the signs and symptoms were very clear.

For more information on the Bus Tour click here. 

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Barnsley Cancer Champions, Emma Bairstow, Lynsey Wilkinson and Molly Abbot attended the launch of the Target Lung Health Check Van (TLHC) in the Dearne alongside the Mayor. 

To view the Instagram posts and more photos, please click here.  

Aisha Mahmood, Cancer Champion for Heeley Plus PCN, presented at the June Cancer Champion Learning Lunch about building links with the community, with the support of existing organisations, raising screening awareness and the benefits of health cafes. To view the presentation click here. 

Carers event is an event run by Barnsley Healthcare Federation who house the PCN. They ran the event in the Market Hall, opposite the Community Diagnostic Centre. 

Barnsley Healthcare Federation invited the Barnsley Cancer Champions to have a stall on the day. The Cancer Champions spoke to over 100 people, raising awarness of the signs and symptoms of cancer and the cancer screening programs. They had resources from Jo's Trust, and CRUK, alongside merchandise from Yorkshire Cancer Research and Bowel Mot assets from the Behavioural Science trial.

On the day Cancer Champions took people's details, which were then passed onto the care coordinator team at the relevant practice to follow up regarding a GP appointment for signs and symptoms or screening appointments. Cancer Champions also ordered Bowel Screening Kits for people who following a discussion wished to now complete their screening. 

To watch the YouTube video about the day Click here 

Helen Clark, Cancer Champion for SAPA5 PCN, was invited to attend a Family Fun Day at Longely 4 Greens to raise awarness around cancer screening and early signs and symptoms. 

Helen had some very meaningful conversations with local residents and handed out resources. There was also local business and staff from Tesco who discussed their positive experience of having a mammogram and took back a handful of resources to display in the store.  

During the day Helen spoke to around 30+ people. 

Jodie Watts Cancer Champions for Doncaster South PCN, attended the International Women's Day outreach event in Doncaster Town Centre & Lakeside Village shopping outlet organised by Primary Care Doncaster. 

On the day they provided important information about mammograms, smears, HRT, how to check for signs and symptoms, and the importance of attending appointments. 

For more information on the event and to read feedback click here. 

Jodie also attended the International Men's Day event at Doncaster Market, having conversations around health and wellbeing issues, mental health services, PSA tests, signs and symptoms of prostate cancer and more. 

On the day they were supported by Andy's Man Club and Macmillan and had over 100 conversations with 90% of people saying they found the health event useful. 

For more information click here. 

Katie Coopland, Cancer Champion for Upper Don Valley PCN, attended a local easter community fair to raise awarness of screening, smoking cessation, healthy eating and early signs of cancer. 

The event was a real success and Katie had a wide range of conversations on the day. Katie has also created an awarness board to be kept at the health centre. 

Kate Leadley and Shelley Lockey Cancer Champions for Hillsborough PCN, have worked closely with Sheffield United Football Club, Health and well-being workers to have the opportunity to have a stall during football matches. 
It was agreed they could attend their first match on Saturday 25th November 2023 and have a stall within the family area before the match started. 
Kate Leadley shared this at the Cancer Champion steering group, to see if other Cancer Champions would like to attend. 
Hannah Smail and Mary Byrne reached out from Township 1. 
They ordered several resources from a range of charities, including Breast Cancer Now, Macmillan Cancer Support, Bowel UK, and Yorkshire Cancer Research. 
Yorkshire Cancer Research also provided a pull-up banner and a tablecloth, alongside some freebies to hand out. 

During the 90 minutes before the match, they spoke to over 200 people, gifted several freebies and resources, had positive conversations around screening and raised £59.88 for Yorkshire Cancer Research. 
Sheffield United have invited the Cancer Champions back to attend other matches and have agreed to put information around screening in the football programme. You can view the information by clicking here. 
If you would like to attend one of the sessions or would like some more information, please email amy.moore39@nhs.net 

Kate Leadley, Cancer Champion for Hillsborough PCN, using Behavioural Science Nudges, created messaging around screening to be included in Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Match programmes. To access the PDF version click here. 

Health Village and Dearne Valley Cancer Champions, Myka Steeples, Georgia Pell and Jade Cook attended Rotherham United vs West Brom on Tuesday12th December 2023, raising awareness of cancer screening in the fan zone, alongside their interactive ‘Pant Pong’ raising awareness of cancer in men. 
On the day they engaged with around 150 people, both home and away fans, one fan expressed “What a great idea it was to be presented at the march and to give out information and to chat about screening/testing”. 
They have been invited to attend again, if you would like to attend any future matches please email amy.moore39@nhs.net. 
They also had a page in the Boxing Day match programme. To view the PDF click here. 

Barnsley Cancer Champion, Lyndsey Wilkinson and Claire Talayhan project support officer, visited the local area of Goldthopre to engage with the local communities to promote the CRUK Talk Cancer workshops and the Cancer Champion programme. 

Upon visiting the Community Shop in Goldthrophe, they invited the Cancer Champions to have a stall at their Christmas fair on the 29th of November 2023.

Vicky Stephens, Georgia Bate and Lesley Muckleston attended the fair with a stall raising awarness on signs and symptoms of cancer and the importance of screening. 

The event was well attended, however engagement was low. 

Barnsley Cancer Champions Emma Bairstow from Barnsley North PCN was invited to the Community Shop in Athersley to discuss the possibility of any collaborative work between the Community Shop and Cancer Champions. Gary from the Community Shop was informed of the Cancer Champion by the Social Prescriber Janice, who runs a chair-based exercise group at the Community Shop. 

What is the Community Shop? 

The Community shop is part of the Company Shop group, supporting those on means-tested benefits to have access to food at a hugely reduced price, which may have gone to waste. This supports sustainability but the main thing is that families are supported in making their limited food budgets go much further.

The money that is made is reinvested in the community hub, which provides debt advice and home budgeting, and the community kitchen café, where people can come together for a cuppa and a chat. This again is important, we know that loneliness has a big impact on health, not to mention that it’s good to have a warm place to visit during the winter.

Emma and Barnsley Cancer Champions have been invited to have a stall at the Community Shop 2 days a week to promote early signs and symptoms of cancer and the importance of screening. 

Kaley Drury, Katie Smith and Alexander Raynes, Cancer Champions for Rother Vally South PCN, attended a local Christmas Fair at Dinnington Resource Centre.  

On the day they shared information and leaflets about Cancer Screening, Signs and Symptoms, weight management, smoking, alcohol and the Target Lung Health Checks. 

On the day they spoke to 100 local people and shared a range of resources. 

Cancer Champions Rachel Boyd and Namoi Strutt from the University Health Services PCN, attended the Sheffield University Student Union to raise awareness of Cancer Screening.

On the day they provided information about Cervical Screening with the opportunity to book an appointment and information about how to check your breasts and services that University Health Services offer. 

The event took place during the Universities 'Wellbeing Wednesdays' where members of staff, students and external services can have a stall to raise awareness of services linked to wellbeing. Prior to the 'Wellbeing Wednesdays' the University Student Union promote all stalls on their website. 

On the day Cancer Champions had some meaningful conversations with several people about cervical screening, some who were eligible and others who were not yet eligible but were curious. They handed out many leaflets and 14 Reward and Referral tote bags. They also booked one person in for their screening. 

Due to exams, footfall was a lot lower, but Rachel and Namoi will look to run the event again in March/April 2024. 

Hillsborough Cancer Champion Shelley Lockey has launched a Health Cafe at Hillsborough Arena for six months on a trial basis, offering support to the local community. 
Shelley reached out to local venues and secured a spot at Hillsborough Arena for free. The location is in the middle of Hillsborough and is easy to access. The venue is also opening their café for the sessions which offers a range of drinks and snacks at a reasonable price. 
A poster was created to promote the event which was shared in all practices and on social media, the post received over 2,000 interactions. SWFC also included the poster in the football programme. 
Alongside sharing information about cancer screening, Shelley also invites other organisations to the session. The first session was in February 2024 which was attended by Cavendish Care and Weston Park Cancer Charities. To invite other organisations/charities to upcoming sessions. Alongside providing information on PCN ARRS roles. 
The first session wasn’t as busy as they hoped, however, they had some meaningful interactions with some local groups who shared what they would like to see. A big area that was immediately identified was isolation. Shelley reached out to SWFC who will be attending the next session to offer support around isolation. 

Farah Akhtar, Cancer Champion for Foundry PCN supported the organisation of an International Women's Day event for Friends of Foundry, supported by Reach up Sheffield and SOAR. 

The event was open to all people across the eight practices and all women received a text message about the event, the below poster was also shared across social media. 

The event had a wide range of stalls available from local businesses, local charities and PCN staff. The event attracted over 200 people and created a positive community environment. 

SOAR, Compassionate Faces, Cavendish Care, Healthy Eating, Breast Screening, Diabetes, Police, SY Fire and Rescue, Healthwatch Sheffield, IDAS, Sheffield Faces, Wild at Heart 

To view more photos please click here to be redirected to the SOARS Facebook page