Take one brilliant event organiser (Trevor Saunders of Mandalay Wellbeing CIC), a football team with true heart (The Bloaters), a loyal crowd of community supporters, and a boost of funding from the Great Yarmouth & Northern Villages PCN and Gorleston PCN — and you’ve got the beginnings of something special.
Then cross your fingers for two weeks straight hoping the weather behaves… and somehow, it did. At least for the morning!
Add in the most beautiful fruit feast you’ve ever seen, and you’ve got the recipe for a training session with a twist at Wellesley Road.
This wasn’t just football (though yes, there was plenty of that — for the kids and the brave adults). We also had Nordic walking, meditation, cancer awareness and advice, a buzz of excitement around the brilliance of bees, a whole Bread Kitchen story, and even some East Coast Music vibes. Many Selves brought plans to film a cancer story right here in Great Yarmouth — another reminder that our community has powerful stories to tell.
But the training didn’t end on the pitch. Smudges Bar became the space where we talked openly about why cancer needs to be discussed differently. Because here’s the reality:
- 1 in 2 people will be affected by cancer in some way.
- In Great Yarmouth, the numbers are even higher.
- We have a higher risk of cancer deaths in our under-75s.
Why? There are lots of reasons — but one of the biggest is something we can change.
- We don’t go looking for cancer early.
- We brush off symptoms.
- We keep working, keep pushing, tell ourselves we don’t have time.
But when cancer is found early — when it’s just a dot on a slide, a tiny change on a scan — treatment can be simple, short, and far more effective. Much of the country is better at looking after itself. You might not always take care of you… but that’s exactly why Cancer Champions want to step up. We’re here to help you look out for yourself, your friends, and your family — before small problems become big ones.
So join us. Let’s Kick Cancer Out the Park — together.