Two Gorgeous Little Girls Running for Mummy

On Sunday 8th July, I took part in the Race For Life with my gorgeous granddaughters Megan and Millie-May, this was Megan's second race and Millie's first.

I have to say that I am so very very proud of them both, they are amazing little girls. Millie didn't stop once, when we walked she jogged and when we jogged she ran as fast as her little legs would take her. I don't think she really understands yet where her Mummy is. My heart breaks when I look at her and realise that she will have no real memories of her Mummy, she will have just pictures and things what we tell her, but we will make sure she knows everything about Claire as she grows older and what an amazing person she was. All the way round yesterday she kept hold of my hand, would not let go, she looked at me and said, "Nana, can Mummy see us from the sky?" I of course said yes, she then said, "I think Mummy's shouting go Millie go", trying not to let the tears start, I said I think she is, Millie squeezed my hand real tight and said, "Lets run faster, Nana."

Claire would have been so proud of them yesterday. We completed the 5k in 45 minutes which is 20 minutes better than last year :-) And considering Millie is only 4 and has got little legs I think that is excellent!!!

Megan now has the running bug, she wants to take up running, so next year we aim to run and beat our time again.

New Petition

We've been thinking for a while now about what our next step will be in trying to get under 25's screened. We have come up with a petition to allow young girls between the age of 18 and 25 to be allowed to opt in to the screening programme, so if they are worried or have symptoms they should be give the freedom to choose if they want to have a smear. A lot of young girls have no problems and do not worry about it, but unfortunately also a lot of girls have problems and, as we know, they cannot get screened.

Last year when we had our meeting with Professor Kitchener we talked about the possibility of having an opt in system for these girls, he said it was mentioned at the review board in 2009 but not everyone agreed to it so it was just left! So now we have started a petition to get the government to allow these girls the choice, and if they get that smear and it comes back abnormal it should be up to the girl if she wants to have any treatment, it's her life, her body, so it should be her decision. They have not shown any evidence that treatment causes fertility problems or miscarriages, but isn't a long life without a baby better than a life ending at 23?! I read somewhere on one of the various research papers I've read over the last few years, I think it was one of Dr Redman's papers, that it's not the actual smear that does any harm it's the treatment that is required after if the smear comes back abnormal. Again, that should be the woman's choice, her decision, nobody elses!!!

So please sign our petition and share it with all your family and friends. We are also running a handwritten petition along side it. If anyone would like to get signatures please contact me, either on Facebook Claire's Wish or email me claireswish@sky.com.

Busy Week

So this week we have started asking people to sponsor us for our Britain Against Cancer Trek :-) Had quite a few already. It's also been a busy week, what with work and trying to fit training in, but we managed it.

I really have got the gym bug, and total weight loss so far is 12lb!!! Which I am happy with as I have been able to have a treat or 2 along the way. Sometimes though I feel as though I cannot do anymore, but what I have done is created a playlist on my iPod of all Claires favourite songs, so just as I start to think of giving in a song comes on and reminds me of Claire and why I am doing this.

Theres also fantastic news this week! Sandra Cousins, Mercedes mum, has reached her target of 100,000 signatures on her petition!! I'm proud to say that Claire's Wish petition is in there too. She is delivering the petition to Downing Street on Monday 23rd April - Cameron will wonder what's hit him. Sadly I cannot go along as we have family commitments, but I will be with them in spirit and wishing them all the luck in the world, and happy that now because there are over 100,000 signatures this now has to go to Parliment for debate!! So hopefully this time they will take notice and do the right thing and admit they were wrong in raising that age to 25.

Watch this space!!!!

Take a look at the Facebook page for the Mercedes Curnow Foundation for the early detection of Cervical Cancer.

Campaign Day Video

Ever wondered what happens on Claire's Wish campaign days?

Every so often we set up a stall in Newcastle-Under-Lyme market in Staffordshire.
Family and friends help to collect signatures for the petition and raise awareness of cervical cancer in young women.

The support is fantastic and at times we've managed to collect more than 1000 signatures in a single day!

Take a look at one of our campaign days:



Video by Rachel Wood

Charlotte's Shining Star

Michele, Dr Chris and Charlotte

Charlotte Hughes was told when she was just 20 years old that she had cervical cancer, and doctors discovered a tumour the size of an orange.

Since then she has set up the Charlotte's Shining Star charity in Manchester, which has the same aims as Claire's Wish - to lower the age for cervical screenings and raise awareness of cervical cancer - and also raises funds for the Young Oncology Unit (YOU) at The Christie Manchester.

Manchester's 106.6 radio interviewed Charlotte and TV's Dr Chris Steele who we also interviewed about his strong views on the age of cervical screenings:

(14th April 2011)

Gynaecologist won't let his daughters wait for smears

An expert in gynaecology has said he won't let his daughters wait until they are 25 before they can have a smear test.

Consultant Gynaecologist Paul Carter has seen many cases of cervical cancer that could have been prevented had they been detected earlier in a cervical screening:

"I have three daughters and I certainly won't leave it to 25 for them to have their first smear. Fewer than 60 women develop cancer under the age of 25 each year, but it is still too many.

"Many doctors – myself included – believe that the starting age for smears in England should be lowered, as teenagers become sexually active earlier."

Read the full article from the Daily Mail here.

Smear tests being binned, reveal Newsnight

Cervical screenings for under 25s are being binned before being tested for abnormal and pre-cancerous cells.

Women under the age of 25 are not able to have cervical screenings due to legislation imposed by the Department of Health in 2003. But there are many young women at a higher risk of cervical cancer whose GP's feel it necessary for them to be tested.

ITV's Dr Chris Steele has found out, though, that once the sample reaches the laboratory the government instructions are to bin those from women who were too young.

More than 700 rests sent to labs in 2010 for analysis were ignored.

Dr Chris took the story to BBC's Newsnight who investigated the scandal.

Watch Newsnight's video report here

Metro Radio news also covered the story, as did People news.

What do you think?

Interview with TV's Dr Chris Steele

Dr Chris Steele has been at the forefront of many medical-related campaigns, not least of which is the campaign to get the age of cervical screenings lowered.


He's a celebrity GP who's been the 'resident' doctor of ITV's This Morning since 1988 and was awarded with an MBE in 2008.

He says his privileged position means he can make a difference and this means a lot to him.

The decision made in 2003 to lower the age of screenings angered him and he's been fighting ever since to change it back.

Dr Chris' campaign links:

• Campaign page and video
• The Twitition - a petition on Twitter
• Facebook Discussion

We met up with Dr Chris to chat about his feelings about the age of cervical screenings

Listen below for the full interview clips.


*Click 'Read More' on the left or HERE to listen*

Government Response to 1st Petition

From the Official Government Petition webpage:

"Cervical screening in England starts at the age of 25, in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, and is supported by advice from leading scientists in this country.

The policy in England changed in 2003 following research carried out by Cancer Research UK and in line with the International Agency for Research on Cancer recommendations, an agency of the WHO.

Evidence has shown that screening young women under the age of 25 may produce a false positive result, suggesting that there are abnormalities when in reality their cervix is still developing.  This can lead to unnecessary investigations which may damage the cervix and possibly lead to premature births later in life.  Screening women from the age of 25 reduces the number of unnecessary investigations and treatments in younger women, thus helping to reduce anxiety. 

The Department of Health is committed to ensuring that the age at which women are invited for cervical screening is based on the latest available clinical evidence and is in the best interests of young women.  In May 2009, the independent Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening (ACCS) conducted a formal review of the evidence relating to the risks and benefits of cervical screening in women under the age of 25.  The Committee was unanimous in deciding there was no reason to lower the age at which screening commences.  The reasons for not lowering the screening age were:

• cervical cancer is very rare in women aged under 25.  In 2007, there were 2276 cases of cervical cancer in England.  Of these, 52 cases (2.3 per cent) were in women under 25;
• there is no clear evidence of an increase in the incidence of cervical cancer following the change to the screening age limit in England; 
• no new scientific evidence was available to support the reintroduction of screening in women aged under 25;
• there is evidence that treatment following screening in this age group can lead to an increased risk of subsequent premature births, increasing the risk of babies dying or having disabilities; and
• one in three young women screened aged under 25 would have an abnormal result, as opposed to one in 14 for all women screened, and there is evidence that this causes distress and anxiety.

However, as part of the action plan agreed following the ACCS review, a working group was set up to produce a new guideline to assist primary care in the management of young women who visit their GP surgeries with gynaecological symptoms, such as abnormal bleeding.  The resultant clinical practice guidance for the assessment of young women aged 20-25 with abnormal vaginal bleeding was published in the March 2010 GP bulletin.

A great deal of other work is also underway.  Key messages on the signs and symptoms of cervical cancer, produced with experts, the voluntary sector and patients, were launched in partnership with The Eve Appeal.  The key messages are aimed at the general public, and are available on the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk. 

NHS Cancer Screening Programmes are undertaking audits on all young women diagnosed with cervical cancer to see how many had symptoms and what their symptoms were.  NHS Cancer Screening Programmes have also commissioned the Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group to produce a leaflet setting out the benefits and harms of screening at different ages.  The leaflet Why cervical screening is not offered to women under 25 years is currently in the final stages of production and versions will be available for both clinicians and the general public.

The cervical screening age range will be a standing item on the agenda of ACCS meetings.  The ACCS reviews all new research to assess its significance to the screening programme, and NHS Cancer Screening Programmes maintains an online database of literature relating to cervical screening, and publishes Cervical Screening: Literature Update twice a year.  This can be viewed online at www.nhs.thescienceregistry.com.

If further evidence is published that warrants another formal review of the screening age range, then this will be done.

Since autumn 2008, girls aged 12-13 have been offered vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) as part of a routine programme to protect against two strains of HPV that cause over 70 per cent of cases of cervical cancer.  In addition, young women under the age of 18 will receive the vaccine as part of a catch-up campaign running until 2011.  The vaccine will save up to 400 lives for each school year of young women immunised."

The First Campaign Day

On a cold February morning 2010 we had our first campaign day to kick off the first petition

The First Petition

Our first petition collected over 20,000 signatures.

Here is the day we handed it over to Downing Street on 7th June 2010.