Our new Chemo & Co Ambassadors!
This is something I've wanted to do for a while, and I can't believe I'm finally introducing our first three Chemo & Co ambassadors.
When I put the post out looking for an ambassador, I actually only planned on choosing one.
Then the messages started coming in.
People shared some really personal stories with me about their diagnosis, treatment, recovery, caring for someone with cancer and why they wanted to get involved with Chemo & Co.
And then I had the horrible job of choosing!
I decided pretty quickly that I didn't want to choose based on who had the most followers. I wanted people who understood why I started Chemo & Co in the first place.
People who get that cancer isn't just appointments, treatment and scans. It's everything else that comes with it too.
So I chose three.
Clare
Clare is living with stage 4 breast cancer and shares her experience really openly online.
One of the things I loved about Clare was that she didn't just message me saying she'd like to be an ambassador. She immediately started talking about ideas and ways we could work together.
Clare is also the founder of her own charity, Embers, and is really passionate about charity and fundraising, which obviously really connected with me.
I think there's so much we could do together and I'm really excited to have her involved.
Jordan
Jordan is 36, a mum of three and currently going through treatment for breast cancer.
Her application just felt very Chemo & Co.
She spoke about how cancer affects you way beyond the medical side of things and how much she wants other people going through it to feel less alone.
She also journals and documents her experience as a way of coping, which obviously made me think she'd be a really good fit for what we're trying to do.
I also just really liked her content. It's honest, normal and doesn't pretend cancer suddenly becomes your entire personality.
Lauren
Lauren was really important for me to include because she sees cancer from another side.
She's experienced cancer herself, but her mum has also been living with stage 4 breast cancer for the last six years.
Lauren has been there through treatments, making chemo hampers, doing little home spa days, finding foods her mum could actually manage and all the other things families end up doing that nobody really prepares you for.
She's also helping her mum complete her bucket list, which I just absolutely love.
Because cancer affects the person diagnosed, but it affects everyone around them too.
I want Chemo & Co to talk more about that. The partners, parents, children, friends and carers who are going through it alongside someone they love.
Lauren is going to help us bring that side into the conversation.
So what will they actually be doing?
I don't want being a Chemo & Co ambassador to mean getting some free stuff and posting a picture with it.
I want them involved.
They'll be trying our journals and resources, giving me honest feedback, helping with ideas, sharing their own experiences and hopefully helping me make sure Chemo & Co represents more than just my experience of cancer.
You'll start seeing them across our socials and getting involved with different things as we grow.
And I already have ideas brewing with all three of them.
This is the first little Chemo & Co ambassador team and I'm really excited to see what happens with it.
Welcome Clare, Jordan and Lauren.
I'm so happy you're here.