Spring is in the air and Summer is on its way
Mid April and it is a lovely sunny day – SCaRF has been invited to hold sun awareness / skin cancer prevention information events by local employers to ensure that their employees know how to be safe in the sun and what to look for in changes to existing or new moles that may be an early indicator of a problem.
It is the time of year for articles in magazines and newspapers about the sun and possible skin damage – there is even a sun awareness week in May. Sun safety and skin cancer prevention is a message we should remember all year – (skiers beware as well as sun bathers!) but the British weather and increasing strength of the sun acts as a timely reminder.
The SCaRF office has now been in its temporary accommodation for over a year but the move is now imminent and I should be re-housed by mid May somewhere on the site of Southmead Hospital. I will confirm the new location address and telephone number as soon as I am able but all existing details will be correct until 11 May.
A big thank you to those fund-raisers and supporters who have already registered and started training for their challenges this year London marathon and Three Peaks Challenge included as well as half marathons and other personal targets. Afternoon teas seem to be more popular than coffee mornings these days with all those calorie laden cup cakes – yum!
We are very sad to say good buy to two of our Trustees this year. James Briggs has been with SCaRF since its formation in 1979 initially as a medical advisor and latterly as a Trustee. He did great work in maintaining the Melanoma Registry and taking it into the digital world from a card index system. James stood down as a Trustee in February and continues to enjoy his retirement to the full.
Alan Smith also retired as a Trustee in February because of deteriorating health caused by the spread of his malignant melanoma . Although Alan had only been a Trustee since 2010 he made a significant contribution to Trustee meetings and insight from a patients point of view. He organised a fabulous fund-raising concert for SCaRF reflecting his passion for music.Sadly Alan died at the end of March and our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.
On a more cheerful note we very much welcome our new Trustee John Turner to join our happy band. John has been a supporter of SCaRF for a great many years, having lost his father to malignant melanoma while he was very young and for several years hosted our sun awareness / skin cancer prevention information stands at Clarks Village at Street Somerset. He is now CEO of visit Somerset and hopes to bring his multi media skills to increase the profile of SCaRF on social media sites.
Caroline