Irish Cancer Society launches Get the Girls campaign

The Irish Cancer Society is calling on the people of Ireland to stand with them in the fight against breast cancer by getting together and fundraising throughout the months of September and October during their Get the Girls fundraising campaign. At the launch of the Get the Girls campaign today, which is kindly supported by Centra Ireland’s largest convenience retailer, the Irish Cancer Society appealed to the public to support the new Irish Cancer Society Collaborative Cancer Research Centre – BREAST -PREDICT, a game-changing research project on breast cancer in Ireland recently announced by the Society.

Speaking about the campaign Mark Mellett, Head of Fundraising, Irish Cancer Society said, “We are excited and proud of our new Collaborative Cancer Research Centre  BREAST -PREDICT. We believe this project will deliver tangible results and have a real impact on how breast cancer patients in Ireland are treated. The Society has made a huge commitment to fund this vital work over the next five years at a cost of €7.5million. We need to ensure that we keep that commitment. In short we need to raise the money to fund this important work, and continue to fund it for the next five years. I ask everyone to support Get the Girls this year and support research like this, as well as our free, nationwide services.”

The Irish Cancer Society Collaborative Cancer Research Centres are the brainchild of Professor John Fitzpatrick, Head of Research, Irish Cancer Society, who spearheaded the creation of this project. Speaking at the launch of Get the Girls he said “Collaboration is the absolute key to making advances in treatment for breast cancer. This first Collaborative Cancer Research Centre is by far the biggest thing the Society has ever done in the area of cancer research. The €7.5 million investment by the Society will come entirely from fundraising, in part due to our Get the Girls campaign. We ask the public to help us fund this centre that will deliver excellent research for the benefit of patients, and we encourage everyone to share in this goal by fundraising on behalf of the Irish Cancer Society this September and October.”

Gail McAllister, Regional Development Officer of the Women on the Water Initiative (WOWI), Irish Sailing Association, speaking at the launch said “The Irish Sailing Association is delighted to support the Irish Cancer Society’s Get the Girls campaign through our wonderful Women on the Water Initiative (WOWI). WOWI is a great way to get women together doing something fun and active – which not only encourages women to participate in sailing and raise money for a great cause - but also gets us physically active which is a great way to be healthy and reduce your risk of breast cancer. I hope everyone out there visits www.sailing.ie/wowi and gets involved.”

Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Managing Director of Centra, Martin Kelleher said, “We commend the Irish Cancer Society’s Action Breast Cancer  programme in the proactive steps they are taking and the vital support they are providing to the women and the families that are affected by breast cancer every year. This is the fourth year of Centra supporting the Irish Cancer Society’s Action Breast Cancer programme, with our fundraising campaigns being a tremendous success to date, allowing us to raise substantial funds for such a very worthy cause. Last year we raised over €500,000 for the charity through fundraising initiatives held in communities across Ireland. In 2013 we aim to surpass this substantial charitable contribution by hosting 180 local community walks throughout the country to help support this game changing research project.”

The Get the Girls campaign is a fun way for women to get together and raise money for breast cancer research and free, nationwide cancer services. There are so many ways to take part you can; Get the Girls ‘round with a girly movie night or come dine with me dinner party; Get the Girls Active with a sponsored cycle or dance off; Get the Girls @ work with a cake sale in the office or a non-uniform day; there are so many ways to get involved, every activity counts! For information, ideas or to register for a pack visit www.getthegirls.ie or CallSave 1850 60 60 60.

Some other events you can get involved in and show your support for Get the Girls include:

1. Irish Sailing Associations’ Women on the Water Initiative – for any sailing group, club or individual that wants to get involved visit www.sailing.ie/wowi
2. Celtic Ross Hotel’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ weekend from October 11th-13th in Rosscarbery, West Cork. Visit www.celticrosshotel.com to get involved.
3. Turn Croke Park Pink! Be a world record holder and fight cancer by going along to Ladies Gaelic Football 40th All-Ireland Final in Croke Park on September 29th and join the world record for ‘Most People Wearing Bandanas in One Place’. Attend on the day, buy a pink bandana for €2 – to break the record, raising awareness and funds for breast cancer. Visit www.ladiesgaelic.ie to get involved.
4. Talk a walk – as part of the Centra local community walks taking place around the country throughout October. Visit www.centra.ie to get involved.

Get the Girls is kindly supported by Centra, Irelands leading convenience retailer with 460 stores nationwide.

To get involved visit www.getthegirls.ie or CallSave 1850 60 60 60.