Eight men go bare-chested on Grantham billboard for Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign
A campaign to support breast cancer awareness is being shown on a six metre electronic billboard in Grantham with a message aimed mainly at men.
The billboard, on Harlaxton Road, features eight bare-chested men from in and around the Grantham area, hammering home the point that men can suffer from the disease as well as women.
This campaign was the idea of breast cancer survivor and campaigner Rachael Bradley, an officer at South Kesteven District Council and founder of the cancer support group, Breast Friends.
The huge Alight Media billboard featured the advert for the first time this morning (Wednesday) and will display it every five minutes between 5am and midnight during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Carrying a message about how many men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK every year, it’s estimated that the billboard will be seen almost 100,000 times over the month.
The advertisement features two men, Steve Ward and Danny Yates, from the council’s refuse crews who operate its bright pink refuse freighter inscribed with unmissable breast cancer health messaging.
Rachael explained that, after launching the pink freighter, some people had asked about raising awareness of breast cancer in men.
She had wanted to do something for Breast Cancer Awareness Month anyway, and was inspired by a Boohoo advert on the Alight Media board while sitting in traffic on Harlaxton Road.
“I thought what can I do with that? I recruited my boys. A lot more guys said they would do it.
“It’s Alight Media that own the billboard, so I got in touch. Anne Warren took the call, I told her my idea.
“She got on board straight away. She is a breast cancer survivor herself. She has been amazing, so cool.
“This one is all about the boys. I am so grateful to all those guys who agreed to strip off to help with this. They all just said yes as soon as I asked, with real enthusiasm. Sadly, I wasn’t able to fit in everyone that said yes.
“The guys have been amazing. They have just embraced it.
“The photoshoot went well, they enjoyed themselves. I’m blown away by it.
“It looks much better on the big screen. It’s going to look amazing when it gets dark.
“The screen has such a good audience, if you think where we are, with the traffic lights too. I mean I stopped and looked at the Boohoo advert.
“Around 400 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK. Men have breast tissue as well as women and so can develop the disease.
“I know first-hand what it’s like to suffer breast cancer. The message is the same. Know your normal and if something’s not right, go and seek professional help and advice. Knowing your normal and early detection could save your life.”
Steve and Danny are joined by other SKDC staff, including deputy chief executive Richard Wyles, Lester Button and Djordja Cvetkovic.
Richard said: “This is an extremely important message presented in an eye-catching way and I didn’t hesitate to help. We are incredibly proud of the work that Rachael does to spread awareness of the risks to both men and women from this dreadful disease.”
Also involved are community and business representatives, such as ASDA community champion Ian Firth.
Ian explained that he got involved when he was asked by Rachael during an interview they were doing for Asda magazine.
In his role as community champion at Asda, he has worked with Rachael to support Breast Friends, which he described as “a fantastic group”, adding that, “we are fully behind it”.
The other men in the photoshoot are Dom Brister, of Don’t Lose Hope in Bourne, and Olly Allen, owner of ORA Motorservices in Grantham.
Alight Media has sponsored the screen time as a charitable gesture, while the photo shoot was carried out by Toby Roberts.
Business development manager Anne Warren said: “We are delighted to help. I have suffered breast cancer myself and I know how important it is to spread awareness. If this advertising helps to save even one life it will have done its job.”
Rachael’s work to help others through her creation of support group Breast Friends Grantham led to her selection as a baton-bearer in the Queen’s Baton Relay through Grantham before the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
