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No Bra Day

No Bra Day

Posted on by SeeTheUniverse_

I love that this day has fallen on a Saturday as it often falls on a day where I am at work and am unable to go braless… So this year I am whipping that bra off and letting the little ladies free! (For today anyway). 

 As many of you may know, this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and today is a way of raising awareness for breast cancer. 

In all honesty, I do not like being braless… I even sleep in a bra (which is bad for you, I know! But I am simply not comfy without my bra!), So today, I imagine, will be tough for me. I also get super self-conscious about going out in public without wearing a bra, and whenever we go on a night out I feel like I have to wear a bra to ‘enhance’ my assets, in order to make me look like I have more there and to make me feel more ‘womanly’…

But then I stop and think. There are young girls and women out there who have lost their breasts to Cancer. There are people out there who are being diagnosed with the horrible, life-changing disease as we speak. And here I am worrying about how my boobs will look in my new dress/top. Selfish right? Inconsiderate? I agree!

I am not saying that I am not allowed to feel self-conscious because there are others out there who have it worse… but I am saying that we should stop to think sometimes. We should try and appreciate our bodies and our lives more, especially when you never know what is around the corner.
I know that if I were to be diagnosed with breast cancer, I would be devastated and terrified, especially if I was to need a mastectomy. I think about hearing such news… and I realise that my boobs are not that bad and in fact, I kind of like them as they are!

We take things for granted without even realising it. So today, I am going braless, I plan to go out and do my shopping braless and I plan on sleeping braless tonight too. I have so much respect to women who have been diagnosed with such a horrid disease, women who fight no matter how hard it gets, women who beat cancer but have to make sacrifices along the way… I also respect the women who have lost their battles, for I know how hard they must have fought. Cancer changes lives. It changes the life of the person diagnosed, even if they beat it, their life will never be the same again… they will look at things differently. It changes the lives of friends and family, it makes them value their relationships and become a stronger unit… if the person loses their fight, cancer changes the lives of those left behind.

Today I will be donating to CoppaFeel, an amazing breast cancer charity who work hard to raise awareness of breast cancer, reminding people the importance of checking their boobs as well as having a range of helpful resources informing people of how to check their boobs, how often they should be checked and what specific things that they should look out for!

You can read more about this wonderful charity here!

CoppaFeel!

CoppaFeel!

Posted on by SeeTheUniverse_

This incredible charity deserves so much more credit than what they receive. They do amazing work in order to raise awareness for breast cancer, reminding people to check their boobs at least once a month and helping them to know what they need to look out for. The charity talks about the seriousness of breast cancer, but in a light-hearted way, encouraging young people to get to know their bodies in the hope that all breast cancers can be diagnosed and treated at the earliest possible stage. 

I was introduced to this wonderful charity via my doctor’s surgery when a nurse encouraged me to sign up to CoppaFeel’s monthly text messaging service… 

CoppaFeel send out monthly text messages to remind people to check their boobs, but in a fun kind of way! I often forget that I am signed up to this service, so when I receive my monthly reminder it makes me smile/giggle as well as reminding me to do something that is very important… checking my boobs! 

Here are some of my most recent reminders:

‘STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING! Checking your boobs could save your life. And it is proper fun. Got it? START WHAT YOU WERE DOING AGAIN.’ 

‘DON’T CHECK YOUR BOOBS. DON’T DO IT. NO, REALLY – DON’T DO IT. 
– A lesson in reverse psychology from CoppaFeel. 

‘Keys?  CHECK.
Phone? CHECK.
Boobs? CHECK.
Knowing your boobs could save your life, so get to it!’

As you can see, these reminders are quirky yet at the same time, life-saving! If you would like to sign-up to their monthly text messaging service, you can do so here! (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO!) – You can also sign-up for regular emails if you prefer! 

CoppaFeel runs various campaigns including #RethinkCancer, which raises awareness for all types of cancer and building up people’s knowledge as well as encouraging them to lead healthy lives. 

This incredible charity relies on donations so that they can continue with their amazing work, going to schools, places of work and attending other events as well as enabling them to continue sending their monthly text messages (a £5 donation enables CoppaFeel to send 100 text messages, which could potentially save lives!)

There are many ways in which you can raise money and awareness for CoppaFeel! Take a look at their fundraising page here to find out more.

You may decide to purchase something from their online store as a way of donating! Check out their amazing items here!

Whatever you decide, just make sure to check your boobs regularly! 

Blurt Foundation’s Intu Events!

Posted on by SeeTheUniverse_

I am super excited to be lending a helping hand to the incredible Blurt Alert Foundation tonight at Manchester Trafford Centre! Blurt Alert Foundation are an incredible mental health charity who work hard to offer help, support and guidance to those who are suffering from various mental health conditions. They run a fabulous, informative blog (which you can find here!), they hosting amazing Twitter Chats on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, they have lots of useful resources for people who are struggling, and they also have an incredible monthly subscription box called ‘The Buddy Box’, which you can purchase as a one-off, or on a monthly basis! You can also choose from their normal-sized Buddy Boxes (£21.50) or their Lite Buddy Boxes (£12.00)! You can find out more here!

At The Trafford Centre tonight, we will have a lovely little set-up outside of Boots, where people can come for a nice chat with a member of the team, get to know what Blurt does, open up about mental health and find out what resources are available to you! We will be there between 4 pm and 10 pm so do feel free to come and say hello and have a chat with us about absolutely anything you like! The environment will be relaxed and calm, you will be made to feel super welcome and you can stay and chat for as long as you like! On top of offering our company, we will also be running giveaways and competitions as well as other fun activities for you to take part in! So please do not be shy, come to The Trafford Centre, enjoy the student event and grab yourself some bargains, and come and say hello to me, the other wonderful volunteers and of course The Blurt Alert team.

After the Event! 

I cannot explain how much I enjoyed volunteering for Blurt tonight! As I was making my way to the event, I was so nervous about talking with people about mental health face-to-face, as I am so used to doing it from behind my computer screen…However as soon as I arrived, I was greeted by Nick, a fundraiser for Blurt, and another volunteer called Rachael. Nick was super friendly and welcoming and I and Rachael were soon chatting away about how we came across Blurt and what made us want to volunteer; before I knew it, we were non-stop talking and it soon felt as though we had known each other for a long time!

We handed out self-care goal cards to shoppers as well as asking multiple different stores if they would put some on their counters, I was able to bring some home with me which I am hoping to include with my bracelet orders as well as using them myself!

Many different people came over to our little area to chat with us about mental health and to get to know more about the amazing work that Blurt Foundation does!

Some people would come for a brief chat before taking a leaflet, entering our competition and leaving again, whereas others stayed to talk to us for quite some time! One young lady, Lauren, came over to chat with us about mental health, she recognised Blurt as she receives their monthly BuddyBoxes! After introducing ourselves and breaking the ice, Lauren began opening up to me and Nick about her struggles with mental health. I found myself sharing my own struggles with them too. This was a very heartwarming conversation as we discussed some of our lowest times, and compared them to where we are today! Lauren also told us about an incredible mental health society within her university that she is part of, they host various activities and events such as art therapy and poetry nights as well as giving out free care packages to students around exam times! I thought this was an absolutely brilliant idea that more universities should take up!

I really loved communicating with people about mental health face-to-face as it is completely different from talking to people online. For me, this event made me realise that mental health social work is definitely what I want to do. I have known for quite some time that I want to be a social worker, but have been stuck between wanting to work with children and families, or going down the mental health route.

I am currently in the process of applying for the incredible Think Ahead; a mental health social work training program! I am really hoping that this works out and that in July next year I can begin on my journey into social work.

This would be my absolute dream job. I have completed my three years at university, run my mental health blog for 18 months, recently passed my mental health awareness course and I am ready to move forward!

I do have backup plans if this does not go well for me, but I am hoping and praying that I will not have to turn to these!

I really enjoy working with a variety of people and listening to their experiences, I love being that person who they feel they can trust and rely on and I love knowing that I can make a difference to their lives… and that is what I want to do for the rest of my days.