Spending your time at the local pool this summer? Why not volunteer a small amount of your time to help Cancer Council beat cancer.
Cancer Council NSW needs your help to visit pools across NSW to ensure the Sun Sound, Cancer Council NSW’s friendly sun safe reminder, reaches teens when it’s most needed.
This role involves visits to sites across the Bega Valley Shire, including Candelo, Bega , Eden and Cobargo, where the Sun Sound is played to conduct anonymous audits, provide support to staff and disseminate communication materials.
It is a great opportunity for health promotion students or anyone interested in health and cancer prevention.
Sun Sound is a catchy jingle being played hourly between 11am and 3pm at beaches and pools as a friendly reminder to protect our skin.
When you’re out and about during summer, it’s easy to forget how strong the sun is. Everyone knows what to do when they’re in the sun – but we tend to forget to actually do it. That’s why there’s the Sun Sound.
Bega, Bombala, Candelo, Cobargo, Cooma and Eden are just a few of the 100-plus beaches and pools playing the Sun Sound across NSW this summer.
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Two in three Australians (2 in 3 men and 3 in 5 women) will develop some form of skin cancer before the age of 70. Over 440,000 Australians are treated for skin cancer and more than 2000 Australians die each year from skin cancer.
This doesn’t need to be the case.
Nearly all skin cancers can be prevented by protecting yourself from the sun and most skin cancers can be cured if they are diagnosed and treated early. It's really important to look after our children's skin.
Tips for parents
It’s important to make sure your teen has their own sun protection with them when they head to the beach or pool. In fact, more than a third of teens head out without taking sunscreen. Here are some ways you can help:
- This summer, when you pick up your family pack of sunscreen make sure you also get your teen their own smaller tube that can be easily packed into a beach bag or clipped onto a backpack.
- Look for a spray or dry touch sunscreen to make application easy and non-greasy
- Need present ideas for your kids this Christmas? Buy them a new hat, clothing or sunnies – the more on trend they are, the more likely they are to wear them.
- Stock up on a few extra sun protection items in the summer sales so your household is never in short supply?
Through events like the Stars of Bega Valley Dance for Cancer, which thanks to support from the local community raised over $15,000, Cancer Council NSW is able to provide this great initiative and others like it to the Bega Valley Shire.
So if you have just 30 minutes each month (Dec to Feb) to assist Cancer Council deliver the Sun Sound program, get in touch.
Contact Kate Brett on (02) 4223 0232 or Kate.brett@nswcc.org.au for more information or to get involved.
