Breast Tea Ever – June 14th

Breast Tea Ever

Here at Atlas Translations, when we aren’t busy translating legal documents, websites, books or reports, organising interpreting or indeed live conference interpreting (to list some recent ventures) we like to raise money for charitable organisations. On June 14th we hosted a Breast tea Ever ‘cake and tea’ event to raise money for Breast Cancer charities:- Against Breast Cancer and Coppafeel. Against Breast Cancer helps fund research into detection and treatment and help reduce landfill!  Coppafeel raises awareness of breast cancer and helps spread the word of signs and symptoms of breast cancer as early detection is key.  We invited local businesses to come along and buy and eat cakes and say hello. And in doing so, supporting these wonderful charities.

Against Breast Cancer

Why choose breast cancer? Well, there are so many charities we support (Cancer Research, Rennie Grove Hospice Care, Earthworks St Albans). But this event is the first one for breast cancer specifically. And the reason it this:

2 years ago Atlas team member, Anna, received the earth shattering news that she had breast cancer (and not only this, but she had the worst sort!). As luck would have it, Atlas Director Clare joined her at the appointment having picked up the panicked call. Anna went on to have 6 months of chemotherapy, 3 operations, 3 weeks of radiotherapy, a year of injections every 3 weeks. She went bald, lost her eyebrows, ached, slept and generally felt rubbish. The result of one of her ops rendered her bras surplus to requirements. It was then that she realised there was nowhere for bras to ‘go’ once they have past their best. After some research we found the answer – we now have a Bra Bank – the system set up by Against Breast Cancer where people can send in or deliver their old bras. Here’s a bit about the bra bank, this is taken from the Against Breast Cancer website:-

“Our bra recycling scheme takes your unwanted or unloved bras and through our network of bra banks raises vital funds for pioneering breast cancer research.

The same bras also help to support small businesses in Africa. Together with our recycling partners, our textile recovery project prevents these bras going into landfill before giving them a new lease of life in developing countries such as Togo, Ghana and Kenya, where bras remain too expensive to produce locally.

Successful ventures like this keep many families in developing countries out of poverty whilst providing employment for people at home in the UK. Any bras that are genuinely beyond redemption are dismantled and disposed of properly.

For every tonne of bras collected, Against Breast Cancer receives £700 to fund our research. With over 30 million women in the UK you could really help make a difference!”

Coppafeel

Coppafeel charity is a wonderful organisation which targets the younger clientele. All too often people assume that breast cancer happens to just women in their 50s and 60s. At diagnosis, Anna was 43 – although not particularly young, still too young to be a normal statistic.

Thankfully, Anna’s previous guise as a nurse had ensured she was equipped with the right skills in self-checking. Most girls and women have no idea what to look out for. Coppafeel is taking that head on. Here’s their bio:

“We are a very small team which, collectively, has one almighty big voice. Where we lack in experience and skills, we make up for in determination and valor. We were founded out of a need to right wrongs, and when we hear of more people diagnosed late, or young people dying from this disease, we know there isn’t a more powerful reminder to get up out of bed every morning.

CoppaFeel! is about more than discovering a cancer diagnosis. It’s about empowering ourselves to be proactive about our own health and body, as well as our outlook on life. It’s about knowing your boobs; knowing that if you do find something, you know what to do and if found early, you have many options. Put simply, breast cancer does not need to be detected late, and as long as we are here and continue to be supported by people like you, we will do all we can do make sure this doesn’t continue to happen. We are passionately committed to affecting real change.”

So there we are. Anna, the voice behind Atlas Twitter and Facebook, the creator and writer of Novels in Translation and our PA asks you to check your breasts regularly and eat cake for charity.

If you don’t know how to check, click here.