After her breast cancer diagnosis at age 28, Lauren was determined to help others like her. She became 1 of our patient advocates and went on to win this year’s Tracey Williams Outstanding Volunteer Award.
Can you tell us about your diagnosis?
At the age of 28, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. I have a mutated TP53 gene due to Li-Fraumeni Syndrome which increases my risk of cancer. It’s not a fun thing to find out about yourself, but I’ve come to realise that knowledge is power.
Why did you decide to become a patient advocate?
After my treatment, I had a strong desire to help others, especially those going through a similar experience.
I decided to look for volunteer opportunities with Breast Cancer Now, and I came across the patient advocate role. In this role, volunteers use their own experience and work with local patients and healthcare professionals to improve breast care services and the patient experience. I hadn’t done anything like it before, but I felt really motivated to apply. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and there is no bigger motivator than the chance to help people with breast cancer.
During my breast cancer treatment, my experience of getting support was overall very positive. So, I felt grateful that I could draw on my experience to help shape improvements and to highlight how important personalised care is. One of these improvements has been to give patients photos of different surgery options and their outcomes so that they can make informed decisions about their treatment. Another involves clinical nurse specialists calling newly diagnosed patients to discuss their support needs so they don’t feel so overwhelmed.
This year, after 3 years’ volunteering, I was awarded the Tracey Williams Outstanding Volunteer Award.
How did it feel to win an award for your volunteering work?
Winning the Tracey Williams Award came as such a surprise to me. It was a really wonderful surprise but one I didn’t see coming at all! When you see all of the amazing work staff and volunteers at Breast Cancer Now are doing, it felt surreal to even be nominated, let alone win. This doesn’t take away the gratitude I feel for being chosen. It was an emotional moment being told the news and then processing it.
I want to give a special thank you to the Service Pledge team who have always supported and encouraged me in my volunteer role.
What’s it like to volunteer with Breast Cancer Now?
Volunteering as a Service pledge patient advocate has given me the opportunity to turn a difficult part of my life into something more positive. I think most volunteers feel empowered by their roles and by the fact that Breast Cancer Now truly listens and responds to peoples’ voices. The sense of togetherness is so special.
I’ve met so many inspirational people, including staff, health professionals, and other volunteers. Everyone has the same goal of improving lives. I have so much respect for all these individuals and, although it’s a cliché, I really do believe this award is for all of us.
Join our community of volunteers
If you’ve been inspired by Lauren’s story, take a look at our volunteering roles, from patient advocate volunteer to event support volunteer.