M&S teams up with Breast Cancer Now to raise awareness of signs and symptoms of breast cancer
Marks & Spencer is rolling out signage in more than 1,500 fitting rooms to give customers guidance on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
The retailer has worked with Breast Cancer Now on the signage which includes the charity’s logo and a QR code for customers to scan to take them to Breast Cancer Now’s website.
M&S will be displaying the signs in every cubicle in its women’s and lingerie fitting rooms at 110 stores nationwide. The idea came from 15 M&S colleagues, including Savanna Binyon, who submitted it as part of the M&S’ colleague suggestion scheme. The signage has also been rolled out across staff changing rooms.
As the UK’s biggest bra retailer, M&S sold 21 million bras last year. In addition, its 2,000 trained bra fitters fit more than 17,000 customers each week.
Binyon, a trained bra fitter and section manager for lingerie at M&S in the Rock Shopping Centre Bury, said: “At M&S we get the opportunity to meet so many incredible women and through our Bra Fit service help them feel more confident about their boobs, so I’m really pleased that M&S is putting this idea into action.
“I suggested it after realising that so many of my friends didn’t know how to check their boobs for signs of breast cancer. I thought the signage could help our customers – and colleagues – by encouraging them to touch, look, check, and speak to their GP if something doesn’t feel or look quite right.”
M&S has raised £33 million for Breast Cancer Now over a 20 year period through sales of post-surgery bras and swimwear, and through 900,000 customers choosing Breast Cancer Now as their chosen Sparks charity.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “We’re delighted to be building on our partnership with M&S by raising vital awareness of breast cancer signs and symptoms with people in M&S changing rooms across the country. Currently, 1 in 7 women in the UK will receive the devastating news they have breast cancer – with this set to increase to 1 in 6 by 2050, it’s more crucial than ever that people know the signs and symptoms of the disease.
“By arming millions of people across the UK with this health information, we’ll help ensure more people who have breast cancer get diagnosed sooner, so they have a better chance of treatment being successful. A huge thank you to all the M&S colleagues who submitted this idea to Stuart and to M&S for launching this vital campaign.”
