Avon partners with CoppaFeel! to encourage early detection of breast cancer

London, 13 September 2017 - Avon UK has today announced a significant new partnership with charity, CoppaFeel!, to support in its mission to educate young women on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer and to raise awareness of the need for regular important boob checks.

Research from CoppaFeel! discovered that just over three quarters of women aged 18-29 will ever check their breasts for signs and symptoms of breast cancer, with only 30 per cent checking on a monthly basis and half of young women lacking the confidence and knowledge of how to check themselves¹.

To help with education and awareness, Avon will support CoppaFeel!’s team of Boobettes, who are a group of young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 35, have had a breast cancer scare at a young age or a strong connection to the disease. Using their stories, they inspire other people to think differently about their lives and bodies, educating about the importance of getting to know your boobs now and making it a life-long habit.

The partnership with Avon will support the recruitment of future Boobettes, create vital awareness materials, and enable digital tools to encourage checking on a more regular basis.

2017 marks 25 years of Avon’s Breast Cancer Crusade, with the cosmetics company raising £19.5million for breast cancer charities through its Representative base, Associates and cause-related products and communications to fund vital research and education.

The partnership with CoppaFeel! aims to not only encourage regular checking behaviour amongst young women throughout the UK - so that every woman is educated with the signs and is is empowered to take action - but to strengthen this behaviour amongst Avon’s Representative base.

Findings from a standalone question posed to UK Avon Representatives showed that over three quarters (77 percent) checked their breasts for signs of breast cancer at least once per month with almost half of these Representatives checking at least once per week (37.6 percent)² .

Too many people die each year due to unnecessary late detection, with almost 10 per cent of all diagnosed cases already at stage IV. CoppaFeel!’s founder Kris Hallenga was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer at just 23. Kris realised her situation could have been very different if she had been better informed - but discovered there is very little information available targeting young people.

Speaking about the new partnership, Andrea Slater, Avon General Manager, said: “Supporting compelling causes is at the heart of Avon; we work hard to improve the lives of women all around the world by supporting breast cancer charities and encouraging women to speak out against domestic violence.

“We are proud to partner with CoppaFeel!;as well as raising vital funds for the inspirational charity, our main aim with this partnership is to drive real behaviour change among women to encourage them to start regularly checking. We’re pleased to see so many of our Representatives are doing so and want to encourage them to pass on the message to their customers, and ultimately help CoppaFeel! in their efforts to educate young people.”

Natalie Kelly, CEO at CoppaFeel! says: “Early detection is the best form of defence against breast cancer. We want to educate every young woman on the signs and symptoms, to know what their boobs look and feel like normally, and encourage them to check their boobs throughout their lifetime. Most importantly, we want them to feel empowered to see their GP if any changes.

“We’re really excited to partner with Avon on our Boobette programme and admire their commitment to fighting for causes that mean so much to women, and are really looking forward to coming up with innovative ways to raise both money and awareness for our important cause.”

To learn more about CoppaFeel! and to donate to the cause visit CoppaFeel!.

1 Online Research CoppaFeel! Tracking Study conducted by Bilendi amongst 1010 nationally representative aged 18 – 29 years in June 2017
2 Standalone Research conducted by Good Business amongst 808 UK based Avon Representatives in August 2017