Bras adorned with feathers and flowers, beads and buttons – even one with more than 2000 matches – featured in the Illawarra’s inaugural Bling A Bra competition.
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Now in its second year, the South Eastern Sydney Illawarra BreastScreen Service is again urging community members to get crafty for a good cause.
Health promotion officer Sarah Little started the competition last year as a lead-in to Australia’s Breast Cancer awareness month in October.
‘‘The aim of the competition is to do something practical to celebrate the lives of women who have been touched by cancer, and raise awareness of the disease that affects one in eight women in NSW,’’ she said.
‘‘Given that our target group is women aged between 50 and 74, who have the highest risk of developing breast cancer, we decided to do something that involved craft as that’s something a lot of these women enjoy.’’
Miss Little said the competition was ‘‘a bit of fun’’ while it also engaged women with the BreastScreen service and encouraged them to be breast aware and to check for changes and unusual symptoms.
‘‘We’ve also found that it was a really helpful exercise for women who’d had mastectomies – indeed last year’s winner said decorating her first mastectomy bra had really helped her come to terms with her experience.’’
Entrants can embellish a bra at their leisure, or they can get a group of friends together for a workshop. More than 74 women took part last year, from all walks of life.
‘‘We had entries from schoolgirls and members of the general community, as well as breast cancer survivors and retirees,’’ Miss Little said.
‘‘At BreastScreen we offer free screening to those over 40, but it was really nice to see the younger age group respond too.
‘‘If we can get younger women to understand changes in their breasts, they’re more likely to pick breast cancer up early, and that is crucial.’’
Bras can be handed in at BreastScreen in Wollongong and Shellharbour, or at the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre in Warilla by October 17. The winners will be announced at a morning tea on October 24 at the Lagoon restaurant in Wollongong.
This year, a separate competition has also started in the Shoalhaven. Contact Miss Little on 91131029 for more information about both events.
