George and Gary from Tradies Support The Ladies will travel down from Tamworth for the day to share the story of their initiative.
“We started about seven or eight years ago, myself and my co-founder, Mat Whitson, when both our wives were diagnosed with breast cancer at what would be considered a young age, 36,” Tradies Support the Ladies co-founder Gary Sinclair said.
“We learned from this experience, it wasn’t something we had a lot of knowledge on because at 36, breast cancer is not a topic of conversation for anyone, so we thought.
“We have since found out that a lump is one of the later symptoms of breast cancer, not necessarily the first one.”
This set Gary off on a journey with his co-founder Mat Whitson, asking men to wear pink on a Friday and encourage them to check their partners for symptoms when they get home.
“We set about trying to educate men and women, men just as much, about all the symptoms of breast cancer and what to look out for,” Gary said.
“We always say that it is men that play with their wives, with your partners’ boobs, you know at least once a week, if you are married at least once a month and if you have been married more than 10 years once every three months.
“We are a bit tongue in cheek about it.
“We always say, if you are playing around with your partner’s boobs, or you see something that wasn’t there, that you need to go and get it checked.”
Sadly, Gary’s wife passed away two years ago after an almost eight-year battle with breast cancer.
Gary now spends his time, free of charge, spreading awareness about recognising the symptoms to both men and women.
“It is so important to recognise the symptoms that are there and not to be scared of it because the sooner you can get it checked,” Gary said.
“I know a few women that have gone and got it checked and it’s nothing, which is great, but they still went through the process.
“We also know of two women that because of our campaign, their husbands noticed something, went and got it checked and found breast cancer in stage one.
A tradie by profession, Gary can be a bit tongue in cheek approach in encouraging men to wear pink on Friday as a reminder to check their partners boobs.
As part of the Launch Party at Worklocker Echuca there will be 10 per cent off storewide, giveaways throughout the day, a sausage sizzle, door prizes and Tradies Support The Ladies merchandise.
For an extra reminder attendees can enjoy a boob shaped doughnut.
Join the event this Friday, November 3, at 130 Hare St, Echuca, from 9am to 5.30pm. Wear pink and support the cause.
