GoGold Campaigns
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and each year we run a targeted campaign to bring awareness the signs and symptoms of children's cancers
The ribbon colour for Childhood Cancer is Gold
September 2015
During the month of September 2015, we shared fact cards every day.
These cards were created by Claire Hardy who is passionate about raising awareness and runs a facebook page dedicated to September
The #gogold movement had been around for some time but with more and more people becoming aware of how underfunded children's cancer research is, there has been a definite shift in awareness, and of the movement.
Awareness = Research = Cure
BCCA Awareness Cards
Since 2010, Beads of Courage UK (formerly known as Be Child Cancer Aware) have sent out millions of these awareness cards and we are proud to have a working partnership with them. They were the first charity in the UK to produce a 'signs and symptoms card' and have worked hard to raise awareness. We regularly share their awareness cards and have delivered them to local schools and doctor's offices.
September 2016
For this campaign, we wanted to highlight how many different types of children's cancers there are. Every day, we featured a different child holding a sign which talked about their diagnosis and when they rang their bell.
The idea behind this was to make the general public aware of how many types of cancers there are and how many children are affected by it in the UK.
During this month, we worked with Catherine Charnock whose son had also been treated at RMCH, to have Manchester Town Hall lit up gold in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
This was the first time this had happened.
September 2017
In 2017, we again highlighted a different type of childhood cancer each day, but this time we asked the families of the children to talk about the signs and symptoms their child presented.
We also talked about the treatments and outcomes for the children we posted about as some of them unfortunately died.
With each story, we posted about the main signs and symptoms to look for in that particular type of children's cancer.
September 2018
For this campaign, we wanted to highlight the great work being done by small family charities. Each of these had formed after a child in their family or community had received a cancer diagnosis.
We talked about why the charity had been created, who they help and how to contact them if you were a family they could help in some way.
September 2019
During this campaign, we again featured 30 different types of childhood cancers with stories from families.
These stories explained the signs and symptoms of these children, as well as their diagnosis and subsequent treatment.
The aim of this campaign was to educate the general public about signs and symptoms of childhood cancers as these are quite often mistaken for ordinary childhood illnesses which can lead to a delay in a diagnosis.
September 2020
During this campaign, we again featured 30 daily facts all about Children's cancers.
These cards were created by Julie Yates for the Make September Gold Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MakeSeptemberGold/
Similar to the awareness cards we had shared previously, these had been updated to reflect more up to date statistics.
We also shared posts about our own experiences of signs, the process of diagnosis and the steps leading up to Emma's treatment.
September 2021
This year, we again focused on the signs and symptoms of children's cancers using real life stories from families who wanted to share their own experiences.
As well as sharing their stories, we posted links to reputable sources to explain what the common symptoms are for the type of cancer we were highlighting each day.
September 2022
Again, we shared real life stories of families and their experiences of childhood cancer. For some, the diagnosis came too late which is why it is so important we continue to raise awareness of childhood cancer and the harsh treatments currently given to children.
For some, like James (pictured), the long term effects of treatment have a profound impact on their life. James' life was tragically cut short in July 2022 after complications relating to his tumour.