New Zealanders help cancer patients feel ‘like a person agai

October 12, 2016

New Zealanders help cancer patients feel ‘like a person again’

Month of giving raises $250,000 for Look Good Feel Better

An estimated 1,800 people were diagnosed with cancer in July. In the same month, generous New Zealanders ensured approximately the same number of people will get to experience a transformational Look Good Feel Better workshop during their treatment.

“It’s a fitting result, communities supporting communities,” Clare O’Higgins, General Manager of Look Good Feel Better, says.

“We are so blown away with the support and generosity of New Zealanders during Feel Better Month. Now more men, women and teens facing any cancer anywhere in New Zealand will be able to experience a free Look Good Feel Better class. Not only will they attend a class, they will go forward with so much more confidence, positivity, a sense of control and normality at a time that is anything but normal.”

There is an ever-growing demand for workshops around the country; over a two-year period class numbers and attendance have risen by 30 percent. The money raised will directly support more workshops throughout New Zealand with an immediate focus for Christchurch, Rangiora, Queenstown and Wanganui.

“We couldn’t have achieved this fantastic result without the help of every individual who supported the charity in July.”

Farmers stores throughout New Zealand supported the charity through open donations, Look Good Feel Better merchandise sales and $1 donations from selected lipsticks and nail varnishes sold, with contributing brands matching the donation. Unichem and Life Pharmacies added a $1 donation to each purchase.

Feel Better Fridays were a new initiate to Feel Better Month this year where communities organised smoothie bars, bike challenges, walking busses and raffles.

“Your efforts will help cancer patients truly feel better,” O’Higgins says.

Look Good Feel Better patient, Katie Sharples, shared her story with New Zealanders during Feel Better Month, saying Look Good Feel Better gave her the confidence to put on a face and pretend that things were ok for half an hour to do the three o’clock pick-up.

Look Good Feel Better classes have helped Katie feel like a person again, not just a cancer patient. Learning how to disguise having no eyebrows helped her feel less like a weirdo and “a freak at the school gate”.

“Thank you New Zealand for your generous support. You’re giving me and thousands of New Zealanders undergoing cancer treatment the strength to look and feel like our ‘normal’ selves,” Sharples says.

Look Good Feel Better workshops give patients a sense of control and normality at a time when diagnosis and treatment can make everything feel overwhelming. Since the launch of Feel Better Month in 2014, New Zealanders have raised over $570,000, providing much-needed support to more than 9,000 patients living with cancer. Funds have also helped increase class location from 24 to 36, helping ensure no one has to travel more than 30

“Our aim is to continue helping New Zealanders undergoing the gruelling side effects of treatment. We want them to not only look good, but feel better and that is the true transformation. It changes their outlook, as well as their look”

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