Dame Deborah James has inspired Andrex, M&S, and more retailers to add bowel cancer symptoms to packs of toilet roll.
Leading toilet roll manufacturer Andrex, and retail giant M&S are two of the first companies to partner with charity Bowel Cancer UK as part of the #GetOnARoll campaign, and in doing so, have both committed to adding the symptoms of bowel cancer and lifesaving information to millions of toilet roll packages stocked on shelves across the UK.
The two companies have also made significant donations to the leading bowel cancer charity – with Andrex pledging a £65,000 donation, and M&S committing a £50,000 sum.
Both Andrex and M&S have been inspired to make the change to packaging by journalist, podcast host, and campaigner, Dame Deborah James – better known as the Bowel Babe – who was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer back in 2016, which she has since announced is terminal.
Almost half of adults in the UK can’t name a single symptom of bowel cancer. Get behind our new campaign today and ask your supermarket to add them to their loo roll packaging and help save lives: https://t.co/NmjBdWTaeHpic.twitter.com/sxCQY40lwl
Since receiving the tragic news that her cancer was terminal, and setting up the BowelBabe Fund, Dame Deborah has gone on to raise a whopping £6.7 million and counting for Cancer Research UK to raise awareness and “fund clinical trials and research into personalised medicine for cancer patients”.
ADVERTISEMENT
She has also been using her final days to support Bowel Cancer UK’s campaign, and encourage other supermarkets and retailers to follow in the footsteps of Andrex and M&S.
“It’s the start of things to come,” Dame Deborah said on Instagram.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I think we should do a big shoutout to other companies now saying ‘Come on! Where’s your signs and symptoms?’
“We need like actual information signposted on those loo rolls [and] I’m hoping that lots of the other big brands will now go yeah, hang on, this makes massive sense – this is what we need to be doing and I can’t wait to see that happen.”
Deborah James was presented with a Damehood for services to charity by Prince William last month / Credit: Deborah James (via Instagram)
Bowel Cancer UK says it launched the groundbreaking #GetOnARoll campaign as almost half of adults in the UK can’t name a single symptom of bowel cancer, despite it being the fourth most common cancer, and it says that knowing the symptoms, and acting on them, means that bowel cancer can be diagnosed earlier when it is more treatable and curable.
Fewer than 40% of people are diagnosed with bowel cancer at the earliest stages, and the charity says “we can change this and ultimately save more lives”.
📣 We’re calling for every supermarket to put our signs and symptoms where people need to see them most – on their loo roll packaging.
The charity added: “Changes in bowel habit and blood in your poo are two bowel cancer symptoms that happen while you’re on the toilet so that’s why we’re calling on supermarkets to put symptoms on their own brand loo roll packaging – where people need to see them most.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We urgently need to get supermarkets to follow suit.”
You can find out more about the Bowel Cancer UK #GetOnARoll campaign here.
Lewis Capaldi cancels gigs to ‘rest and recover’ with loved ones after ‘struggling’
Daisy Jackson
Lewis Capaldi has said in an emotional statement that he will be cancelling all of his upcoming commitments until his Glastonbury appearance.
The Scottish singer-songwriter said that he had been ‘struggling’ with the whirlwind promo tour for his newest album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent.
He said that the last few months had been ‘full on both mentally and physically’ and he needed to take some time to rest and recover at home in Glasgow with his friends and family.
The apologetic message shared on social media apologised to fans who had already spent money on hotels and travel for the affected shows, which included an intimate gig in Leeds tonight, The Hoot reports.
Lewis, who is almost as well-known for his brilliant sense of humour as for his chart-topping music, announced that he wanted to be at his best for Glastonbury.
It means he has pulled out of his incredibly intimate show at The Wardrobe in Leeds, which was due to take place on Tuesday 6 June 2023.
Only ticket-holders for Reading & Leeds Festival, of which Lewis is a headliner, had access to tickets for the exclusive show this week.
Taking to Instagram, Lewis wrote: “Hi everyone, hope you’re well. This is a really difficult message, and one that hurts me a lot to have to type, but I’m really sorry to say that I’m going to have to cancel all commitments from now until I play Glastonbury on June 24th.
“It’s been such an incredible time leading into this new album, and seeing all of the support from everyone has been beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of. That said, the last few months have been full on both mentally and physically, I haven’t been home properly since Christmas and at the moment I’m struggling to get to grips with it all.
“I need to take a moment to rest and recover, to be at my best and ready for Glastonbury and all of the other incredible shows coming up so that I’m able to continue doing what I love for a long time to come. I need to take these three weeks to be Lewis from Glasgow for a bit, spend some time with my family and friends and do normal life things that are an important part of me feeling better. I hope everyone understands.
“I know many of you will have spent money on travel or hotels, which I appreciate more than ever with how difficult things are economically at the moment, so I’m extremely sorry for the impact this will have. The fact you’re willing to come out and spend your time, money and love on these shows is beyond comprehension and I feel incredibly lucky.
“I’m getting all the help and support I need from the incredible people around me who I’m so grateful for.
“I take none of this for granted and can’t wait to be back doing it again. All my love Lewis x”
Featured image: Alexandra Gavillet
Trending
Matty Healy is kissing people at gigs again — and this time it was a security guard that got a smooch
Danny Jones
The 1975 are in the midst of a massive world tour and while playing the tunes would be enough for most, frontman Matty Healy simply cannot close a show without doing something random — kissing a security guard being the latest.
Now, the often divisive and ever-provocative songwriter, lead singer and guitarist has been kissing people for months now; the current ‘At Their Very Best’ tour has been riddled with him sucking people’s thumbs, humping cameramen and lots more, but kissing strangers has been a staple throughout.
The London-born, Cheshire-raised and Manchester-initiated musician had packed in the gimmick of late following criticism that many of his on-stage antics were inappropriate, but at a recent festival gig in Denmark, Healy brought back the now infamous ‘Robbers’ kiss.
Having smooched countless fans during this popular song from their debut album — a routine that has now become a regular and expected occurrence at The 1975 gigs — this time he decided to plant a big sloppy one on the lips of a security guard watching the NorthSide festival-goers below.
As you can see, the security guard looked to be a good sport about the whole thing, laughing and raising his arms as the crowd cheered before kissing him back — the first angle even shows him asking the staff member before he leans in.
However, many have criticised the 34-year-old not because they find it inappropriate behaviour from an artist but mainly because of his new rumoured relationship with Taylor Swift, with her fans commenting things like, “good, can they break up now?” and “No wonder Swifites hate this guy“.
They have even gone as far as analysing the recent performances of both acts and are now speculating that their apparent ‘whirlwind’ romance has already ended — hence why Healy went back to kissing randomers, security guard or otherwise. Your guess is as good as ours, we’re just here for the chaos of it all.
In case you wanted an idea of some of the other random stuff Matty has been on doing on this tour, or simply how this new album sounds live, you can have a taste down below or read our review of The 1975’s Manchester show HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2022 
