FA Women’s Championship club Durham have announced that cervical cancer charity, Amber’s Law, has become their Official Charity Partner.
The move was announced in a press release issued by the club yesterday with Amber’s Law becoming the first-ever Official Charity Partner of The Wildcats.
The Amber’s Law logo will appear on the sleeve of Durham’s home and away shirts, starting this weekend when the club host in-form Blackburn Rovers at Maiden Castle. It is hoped that the club can help raise awareness of cervical cancer alongside the charity’s work to promote the importance of cervical screening.
The latest positive move from Durham follows on from the wonderful fundraising efforts of the club and their fans in recent weeks for the County Durham Foodbank and the #ENDCHILDFOODPOVERTY campaign.
Amber’s Law is an ongoing petition to change the NHS guidelines around cervical screening so that it is available to high risk groups from the age of 18.
Amber Rose Cliff went to the doctors multiple times and was refused a screening on all of these occasions because her age was below the NHS guidelines. She then went on to pay for a private screening at the age of 21 and found she had cervical cancer that had been there for between two and four years. This, over the course of four years, spread to her lungs and her throat and Amber sadly died at the age of 25.
The charity was formed following Amber’s death in January 2017, when those behind the petition were approached by long-running charity Hope4kidz – who are based in Sunderland and are a provider of help, gifts, holiday breaks and similar experiences for those under-25 who have suffered or are suffering from illnesses, health problems or disabilities.
Amber’s Law have worked steadily over the past three and a half years to raise awareness of cervical cancer to young women, as well as providing funding for young girls under-25 to attend private smear tests – as the NHS refuse to test people under 25 as the law stands, even if they are showing symptoms.
Amber’s story has created nationwide awareness via the TV, media and news outlets – with a lot of girls joining the charity’s social media platforms which gives them a space to voice their concerns of their condition. This in turn has led to the funding of dozens of private smear tests and, unfortunately, some of the girls were found to have varying degrees of cervical cancer but luckily, because they were caught at fairly early stages, their subsequent treatment has undoubtedly saved lives. Cases such as these have proven a driving force for Amber’s Law as they continue campaigning for change, to create a ‘smear on demand’ law – where any girl under-25 showing symptoms can request a smear test.
The charity have had high level meetings in parliament and were making great inroads to achieving this before COVID-19 struck. They are hopeful to be heading back to parliament in the near future to continue these talks, while they continue their great work on a local level.
For more information on Amber’s Law please visit their website by clicking here.
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