Volunteer with MASScot! 14 July & 20/21 July

We are looking for volunteers to come along and help spread Melanoma Action and Support Scotland's sun protection message.

MASScot will be attending the Heavy Horse Show in East Kilbride on Sunday the 14th July and need volunteers to help run our stand at this event. This is one of Scotland's biggest heavy horse shows, offering the chance to get up close to nearly 200 horses, from tiny Shetlands through to sturdy Highland ponies and giant Clydesdale's  Watch show classes, donkey classes and agility courses in the ring, take a pony ride and join in with children’s craft workshops. MASScot will be there to make sure everyone is educated on Melanoma and Skin Cancer.

Date: Sunday 14th July
Location: National Museum of Rural Life, East Kilbride.

We will also be attending The Glasgow Show on both the 20th and 21st of July at Glasgow Green. The Glasgow show is an exhilarating weekend of amazing family entertainment and exciting activities. With live music, extreme sports, dance performances, street theatre, countryside activities, children's funfair rides and a main arena filled with international acts. You can be part of the festivities by volunteering with MASScot and helping to make the weekend even better for all attending. 


Date: Saturday 20th July - Sunday 21st July
Location: Glasgow Green

Volunteer Expenses will be paid. 


MASScot will be present at the Pollok Family Fun Day at Pollok Park on Sat the 3rd of August. There will be several arenas throughout Glasgow’s largest park with a range of entertainment and activities which promise something for everyone.
Date: Saturday 3rd August
Location: Pollok Country Park


If your up for volunteering at any of these events contact Leigh Smith at: 

0773 823 1260 or email  Leigh@masscot.org.uk media@masscot.org.uk

Melanoma & Skin Cancer News Roundup

Collection of links and articles on Melanoma and Skin Cancer from the last week.


Cancer treatment time targets being missed by more than half of Scotland's regional health boards

• NEW figures show that eight of Scotland's 14 regional health boards failed to meet the target of 95 per cent of patients starting treatment within 62 days of being urgently referred at the start of this year.

Source: Daily Record

Almost half of Scots try to get sunburnt in hope of 'deeper tan'

• Getting sunburnt once every two years can triple the risk of skin cancer but 46% of people surveyed in Scotland will take the risk, according to Macmillan Cancer Support — the UK average is 40%.

Source: STV

Garden weed that could help fight off skin cancer: Picato is fast-acting treatment for condition that causes one form of disease

• A new treatment for skin damage that can lead to cancer has been created from the sap of a common garden weed.

Source: Daily Mail

Ayrshire skin cancer diagnoses still rising
Source: Irvine times

Birthday Honours trio congratulated

• Jo Swinson MP has congratulated MASScot chair Leigh Smith who was given an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Source: Bearsden and Milngavie Herald

British women's appetite for tanning salons is fading fast as the appeal of the orange look starts to wear off

• Number of UK tanning salons decreased by a third last year
• Women are favouring pale look of celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence
• Using a sunbed before age of 35 increases the risk of malignant melanoma by nearly 90 per cent

Source: Daily Mail

Festival Advice: Dont Go Tapps Aff!

Sunburn is skin damage caused by UV rays in the sunlight. Your skin overheats, becomes red and blisters. Not a good look for anyone. With the amount of time spent outside at music festivals it’s important to take the necessary precautions in making sure you don’t do any unnecessary damage to your skin.

Festival Essentials

Sunscreen

An easily forgotten item when it comes to Scottish weather however with the summer starting nicely with temperatures of above 20 degrees and the UV index in the 4-6 range it looks like the weather may only get hotter. Therefore it is essential you stock up on sunscreen in order to protect yourself from sun burn and not let it ruin your festival experience.

After Sun

Hopefully you won’t be needing this if you've packed sunscreen but just in case its always wise to pack a bottle. You’re probably not sleeping in the comfiest of conditions so why make it worse? Being sun burnt at the end of the day is extremely painful and uncomfortable so ease the pain by slapping on the After Sun.

Painkillers

source: Cosmoplitan 

Same as above. If you’re already bringing along the paracetamol or ibuprofen for the sore head on the morning after it’ll double up as something to treat your sunburn with and relieve the pain. But follow MASScot's tips and you should have no need for it.

Umbrella/Parasol

You’ve got your tent and your pop up seat, why not bring along the umbrella. Use it if it rains or when it’s sunny. If the sun is beating down on you, an umbrella is the perfect foil to help cool you down by relaxing in the shade.  A whole weekend in the sun is too much for anyone so utilize the umbrella to keep you cool and avoid sunburn. MASScot encourages you to take shade between 11am - 3pm so put that parasol into action.

Sunglasses

Essential accessory when you’re out and about in the sun. Make sure the glasses are UV protected to ensure that they’re safe to wear. 

Protective Clothing

The Best type of protection from the sun is simply covering up and wearing clothing which hide the most likely areas to get burnt and are therefore protected from the sun. Sunsibility has a whole range of UV protected clothing.

UV index App

Although it might not be warm, the UV rays are often still there. Install a weather app on your phone and you can easily inspect the UV index and plan for your day out and about quickly. 

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ultraviolet-uv-index/id445874481?mt=8

Fundraising night is a tremendous success!

A fundraising night was held in memory of Bryan Hunter, late husband of Gillian at the Greater Easterhouse Supporting hands. The night which took place on Saturday the 1^st of June was a tremendous success and was greatly enjoyed by everyone involved. With a turnout of around 200 people all coming together to raise funds for Melanoma Action and Support Scotland.

The night was organised by Bryan’s friends known as the ‘El Luchadors’ who put on a variety of different activities throughout the night to get everyone involved and keep them entertained

Activities included a Live Band, DJ, raffle, arm wrestling competition, auction and a closest to the bottle contest.

In attendance was former Rangers midfielder Alex Rae, who stopped by to sign autographs, take pictures as well as host the auction. All of the auction and raffle prizes were kindly donated by a wide variety of individuals and businesses.

Catering at the night was generously supplied by the Co-op and Domino’s Pizza who contributed to the Buffet.

Well done to the El Luchadors and everyone involved for their sterling effort for a good cause. All here at MASScot greatly appreciate your help which allows us to continue our work. 

  

  

Join us in the fight to reduce Sunscreen VAT.

You wouldn't think it but currently in the UK Sunscreen is classed as a cosmetic product. 

Sunscreen is a crucial component in the fight against skin cancer and is one of the best ways of preventing the disease. As a cosmetic product sunscreen is subjected to the usual 20% level of VAT. Along with Alyn Smith MEP we have launched a petition to reduce the VAT rate to 5%.



MASScot chair Leigh Smith had this to say:

“We are very glad that Alyn Smith is raising the issue of VAT on sun protection. We are currently teaching the need for sun protection in schools, but the costs means that often people do not use an adequate amount of cream and re-apply it as often as is necessary to give proper protection.

“The number of people with skin cancer has increased by more than 50% in the last decade; it means that malignant melanoma is the fifth most common form of cancer in Scotland and the most common in 15 to 34 year olds.
“While it is an encouraging sign that mortality rates for cancer are falling, the trends within these statistics demonstrate the need for the Government and for us as individuals to do everything we can to avoid it.”


You can sign the petition by clicking on the links below.

Petition
Alyn Smith MEP News

Melanoma: The Bottom Line

THE FACTS

• Around 12,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with malignant melanoma each year, and there are around 2,200 deaths from the disease.

• Malignant melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK.

• More people die from skin cancer in the UK than in Australia.

• Melanoma is now the most common cancer in young people aged 15-34 in the UK.

• In the past decade, cases of the disease have increased by over 50 per cent.

• Malignant melanoma has the biggest projected increase in incidence of any cancer by 2030.  

• Over 80 per cent of all skin cancers are caused by overexposure to the sun and/or sunbeds.

• The majority of early melanomas, where there is no spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body, can be cured by simple removal. 

• Melanoma is much more difficult to treat in the later stages.

• Using tanning beds before the age of 30 increases your risk of a melanoma diagnosis by 75 per cent.

• 
  

source: Macmillan.org.uk

MASScot at Holyrood

Here is a selection of photographs taken when MASScot visited Holyrood, the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

MASScot brought along a whiteboard for each MSP to sign and write their own personalised sun protection slogan. MSPs who signed the board included Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and many others.