In March 2024, Chamber were proud to co-host an event alongside Ben Hood, a member of the LGBTQ+ Conservatives, to raise awareness of breast cancer and to help Hood raise money for Breast Cancer Now.
A big part of the event was an auction, which was a huge success and saw £8,500 raised in total. Prior to the auction taking place, Hood invited three key speakers to discuss their very personal relationships with breast cancer. They were:
- Susie Cleverly – Political Campaigner and currently battling breast cancer
- Baroness Delyth Morgan – Chief Executive of Breast Cancer Now
- Rt Hon Chloe Smith MP – Former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and breast cancer survivor
Susie Cleverly Talks Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer
Susie Cleverly, the wife of Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. Ever since, she has been using her experiences to inspire more women to regularly check themselves for key signs and symptoms. Discussing what prompted her to make a visit to the GP.
I never believed that it would happen to me, but I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2021. One morning, I was about to get in my shower and I did an almighty stretch in front of my bathroom mirror. As I came up out of my stretch, I glanced in the mirror and there in front of me on my right breast was puckering of the skin.”
“I knew instantly that that was a sign that I had to go to my GP, and he told me that he suspected that it was cancer. Ten days later, I was, sure enough, diagnosed with breast cancer. I was diagnosed initially with two types of breast cancer. They later found a third. I didn’t even know at the time that there was more than one.”
Susie Cleverly
Cleverly told the room how, after initially breaking down in tears and getting over the shock of the diagnosis, she accepted and then tackled the situation. “I cried a lot on the day of the diagnosis, but I soon realised that there was actually nothing that I could do about my situation except take it face on and just deal with it. Don’t try and fight it, because that’s when you get hurt, and so that’s what I did.”
“I took my medication, I went to all of my appointments and I started my treatment pretty much straight away with chemotherapy, which lasted for about six months. I experienced various side effects and reactions and at times, it was really, really horrid.”
Baroness Delyth Morgan on Breast Cancer Now’s Plans for the Future
Baroness Delyth Morgan is the CEO of Breast Cancer Now, the UK’s largest breast cancer charity. Ben Hood, the organiser of the entire fundraiser, is running the London Marathon to raise funds for Breast Cancer Now, so Baroness Morgan was on hand to inform attendees about the charity’s work and plans for the future.
“At Breast Cancer Now, we have a very ambitious vision that by 2050, everyone who’s diagnosed with breast cancer will live and be supported to live well.”
“We believe that, looking back over time, there has been massive progress in the treatments and the options available for people diagnosed with breast cancer. So, we believe that if we can keep that progress going then we will achieve our vision.”
“We are a charity that is absolutely committed to funding the research that is crucial to understanding the fundamentals of all the different types of breast cancer. From that, we can make the best efforts to come up with new, kinder, more effective treatments that will make a difference, so that everyone diagnosed with breast cancer can live.”
Baroness Delyth Morgan, CEO of Breast Cancer Now
Breast Cancer Now works in partnership with the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital. Through these partnerships, Baroness Morgan has gained a first-hand look at some of the cancer research currently being undertaken in the UK. She said,
“Be under no illusion, the science that is happening in this country is the best in the world and we are really making a difference. You can feel very proud of the breast cancer research in this country.”
“We have funded research in some of the major academic centres around the country, whether it’s in Edinburgh or Manchester, so we really do work very closely with some of the best minds that we have in the UK, and that is recognised internationally.”
Chloe Smith MP on How Cancer Links Us All Together
On the day of the event, Chloe Smith MP was only able to make a flying visit to share her battle with breast cancer. She used her allotted speaking time to talk about statistics to illustrate the point that all people in the United Kingdom will be impacted by cancer in one way or another during their lifetimes. She said,
“My breast cancer battle began at the back end of that horrible year that was 2020 and, frankly, the ship just kept on going and, as Susie has already set out, that is how it can feel.”
“The other thing we should all bear in mind is that actually, cancer in all of its forms will strike one in two of us over our lifetimes. That means that, in fact, all of us will come into contact with it because it’ll be our friends or our family if it’s not us.”
“With breast cancer alone, in the time we have been auctioning tonight, another woman somewhere in the UK will have received her diagnosis.”
Chloe Smith, MP
Final thought
To help us reach our £10,000 target, please donate to Ben’s marathon page here. Your support is vital in helping raise awareness, finding treatment and providing care and support for those suffering from Breast Cancer.
To watch our event and hear the inspirational insight from our speaker’s click here, and to read our previous articles on Breast Cancer awareness, click here and share!