Pictured with club president for the month Carolyne Trew is Heidi Rehman, left, from the Breast Cancer Haven in Titchfield; she is wearing a floral garland from Hugh Bonneville, Lord Grantham in Downton Abbey, who had been filming in the area and attended the publicity event of a flower display at the Haven earlier in the day.
After her own breast cancer diagnosis at the age of 34, Heidi realised there was little or no support for anyone facing that life-changing event (predominantly women, but men can also have the disease). She embarked on various personal fund-raising and awareness raising activities, including offering to be photographed to provide a positive image of reconstructive surgery; she was finally successful, and launched Breast Cancer Awareness month one October on Page 3 of The Sun newspaper!
After meeting Sally Taylor of BBC South Today at a publicity event, she heard about the work of the Breast Cancer Haven, and has been involved in the charity ever since. They provide support to anyone who has had a breast cancer diagnosis and their family, with up to ten hours of free counselling, massage or other individually tailored therapy. The Haven is open for anyone to drop in during the working week.
The Wessex area covers the south coast from Weymouth to Worthing, with Titchfield centrally placed between the major oncology departments at Portsmouth and Southampton hospitals. Visit their website at: https://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk/wessex