Dear Everyone
Exciting News – 2015 Elections! THE BIG QUESTION
With the General Election fast approaching, in March Breast Cancer Care will be running a special event on our forums called The Big Question. This will be your opportunity to question each of the parties on their policies that could impact people affected by breast cancer.
We know how important it is for everyone to have an opportunity to ask questions and be heard; because of this we have invited spokespeople from the main political parties to join Breast Cancer Care and you, our users, for an hour each to participate in a question and answer session. This means that for one hour, a party representative will be on our forums, live to answer questions posed by you. We are still working on the details with the parties but the dates will be 9-20 March 2015 and timings 11.00-12.00.
We are also looking to invite the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parties to take part.
Watch this space for more information as we have it, but please save the dates now!!
Anna
Forum Coordinator
Thank you BCC, this sounds a great opportunity to talk!! CDF top of the agenda I hope??
Thumbs up! Like!! Let’s go for it!!!
And… when this has happened, or after the election results, maybe we (BCC and forum users) could set a realistic goal/target that we would like to see achieved, in a defined time-frame? Politicians who honour their pre-election promises are as scarce as needles in haystacks… or as scarce as new drugs to treat SBC that get the OK from NICE.
Thanks BCC. Will the questions and answers be visible afterwards for people who can’t make the sessions?
Dear All,
Unfortunately, we are having to cancel the Big Question events with the political parties that were due to take place on the forum. This has been because we have been unable to secure enough of the parties to take part. This is obviously disappointing but it is not the only activity we are organising in the run up to the election.
If you were planning on taking part in the Big Question and had issues you wanted to raise with the parties, we would recommend getting in touch with your local candidates. You can do this through our website where you can send an email directly to them. We also have some volunteers who are running local Question Time events, which you could attend. For more details on both of these, go to www.breastcancercare.org.uk/election2015.
We also have a few spaces left for people who would like to run a Question Time event in their constituency. If you are interested please get in touch with the Policy & Campaigns team to find out more at campaigns@breastcancercare.org.uk. Get in touch if you have any questions about our general election activity as well.
Best wishes
Anna
Forum Coordinator
Dear everyone, a further update on our engagement with the upcoming general elections.
On Thursday 12 March, Jillian Creasy, the health spokesperson from the Green Party, is due to visit Breast Cancer Care to find out more about breast cancer and the services we run to support people affected by the disease.
As part of her visit, Jillian has agreed to answer some questions about breast cancer and how the Green Party’s policies could make a difference after the election. If there is a question you want to ask Jillian, post it below. It could be something about treatments or early diagnosis, support for families or better access to services, or anything else on breast cancer you would like to ask about. We will try to ask as many questions as we can and will let you know the answers.
On the 12<sup>th</sup>, we will live tweet Jillian’s answers from 12noon – 12.30pm. You’ll also be able to find out more about what Jillian said on our blog after the event.
Please note, we have offered for each of the other political parties to take part in a similar event. However, some have declined and others have yet to get back to us. If we do get a similar opportunity with any of the other parties, we will share details about how to get involved on the forum.
Best wishes
Anna
Forum Coordinator