A landmark celebration was held to honour the 450 Cancer Champions who have been spreading cancer awareness across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Mid Wales.

The volunteers have been recruited by the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, in conjunction with Oswestry-based Qube and support from NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, to be Cancer Champions.

These Cancer Champions create conversations about cancer, raising awareness about the signs and symptoms of the disease and hence promoting early diagnosis.

More than 50 of the trained volunteers and representatives from the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB), Powys Teaching Health Board, and other voluntary organisations, as well as supporters of the initiative, were present at this celebration.

The occasion was organised by Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, which is the sole financier of the work across the region.

The success of this project has not gone unnoticed.

It has been recognised at a number of regional awards - as finalists in the Shropshire Business Chamber Awards, and the upcoming Powys Business Awards.

Miranda Ashwell, LiveLife project lead at Lingen Davies, said: "We are thrilled to have the chance to mark the continued success of this work, the fantastic people who have volunteered to be trained as cancer champions and our colleagues in healthcare who recognise the importance of the project.

"Cancer Champions make such a difference in their communities across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Mid Wales and start conversations with people in all walks of life.

"They are helping others to spot the signs of cancer early and helping to save lives, the impact they have should not be underestimated.

"We now have more than 450 people trained and it looks like that number will, thankfully, keep growing."

The project was initiated in Powys by Lingen Davies alone in early 2023, where more than 200 volunteers were trained.

In Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, Lingen Davies assumed sole funding post-April.

However, the project proved to be so successful that the ICB has now announced another £50,000 of funding to further the programme.

Presentations were given at the celebration, which was held at Trinity Centre, Meole Village, Shrewsbury.

The speakers included Miranda Ashwell, CEO of Lingen Davies, Naomi Atkin, Powys Cancer Champion coordinator Helen Davies, and others.

Several cancer champion volunteers and military personnel took the podium.

Alex Mace, health inequalities manager at NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin also attended the event.

Speaking on the transformative work of the Cancer Champions, he said: "It was a privilege to speak at the Cancer Champions celebratory event and reflect on the fantastic achievements made over the last 18 months.

"As a member of the Healthcare Inequalities Team for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin NHS, I am committed to narrowing the gap between the health outcomes of different groups in our communities.

"A key priority in doing this is to understand and learn from the experiences of our seldom-heard communities.

"The feedback of our Cancer Champions has already started to shape how healthcare services are being delivered through developing the information healthcare staff use, which has resulted in better support for people to access life-saving health checks and screening.

"We look forward to continuing to work with Cancer Champions to tackle inequality and ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to receive health care."