Pink Caravan coming to your town

The Breast Cancer Foundation's Pink Caravan will be in Northland next month.

A bright pink caravan will be doing the rounds in Northland next month giving women and men information and advice on breast cancer.

The Breast Cancer Foundation's Pink Caravan will be in Northland from September 6-16 with specialist breastcare nurses on board.

The foundation has worked with healthcare providers in the region to get some other events going on in each town the caravan visits. On the first day of the tour in Rawene there is a pamper day organised at the local gallery, and the Hokianga Ferry is going to be decorated in pink.

Also Mad Hatters cafe in Kaeo is getting on board with special menu items, and staff dressing in pink.

"After the tremendous success of last year's Pink Caravan Tour, the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation is going on the road again - our Pink Caravan will travel to 32 towns throughout New Zealand, from the Far North to Southland, with our specialist breastcare nurses on board," Dianne Swann, Pink Caravan project manager, said.

"We want women everywhere to know all the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, to understand their family and lifestyle risk factors, and to know what to do if they have any worries. We're inviting women - and men - to pop into the Pink Caravan with their questions. The caravan will have hands-on displays of breast cancer symptoms that most women won't have seen before, and we'll use prosthetic breasts to show what a lump feels like.

"More than 114 women in the Northland DHB region will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. The earlier they're diagnosed, the better the outcome, so we'll be advising on screening and how to look out for the full range of breast cancer symptoms."

More than 1000 women are diagnosed nationally with breast cancer each year outside the free screening age group, and even among screened women, breast cancers can show up between mammograms.

Volunteers from the NZ Motor Caravan Association around the country will tow the caravan from town to town.

- For more information visit www.nzbcf.org.nz/pinkcaravan

The Pink Caravan will be at:

Rawene, outside Parnell Gallery on September 6; Kaitaia, outside Shackleton's Pharmacy, September 7; Kaeo, outside Mad Hatters Cafe, September 8; Kaikohe, outside Broadway Health Medical Centre, September 14; Kawakawa, by the Hundertwasser Toilets, September 15 and Whangarei, at Tikipunga Paramount Plaza, on September 16.