A cancer diagnosis is devastating enough without having to endure what comes after.
Not only are your physical health and appearance attacked, but the symptoms add further strain to your already-challenged mental health.
Sometimes the little things can put a big smile on your face and give your mind a short reprieve from the stress of dealing with the disease, like joining a workshop with people experiencing similar difficulties as you for a bit of pampering and self-care.
Global not-for-profit cancer support charity Look Good Feel Better — run by The Cancer Patients Foundation in Australia — works closely with cancer patients, providing non-medical support on topics ranging from skincare and fitness to mental wellbeing.
It will host a volunteer-run workshop in Shepparton for men at Goulburn Valley Health next week, where topics will include skincare advice, make-up tips, wig and headwear selection and care, fitness, mobility and mental wellbeing.
LGFB runs about three workshops for women in Shepparton each year, with the next one in August; however, LGFB Victorian program manager and volunteer Faye Venning said men and women undergoing treatment had different needs.
She said for them to get more out of the workshops it was better to run them separately.
“In both of them we do skincare because looking after skin is a really important part for them, so we use different men’s products and women’s products,” Ms Venning said.
“In the make-up side of it, with the women we might use a foundation; with the men, more likely a tinted moisturiser or BB cream just to help them tone down the redness.
“With lost eyebrows, we still use eyebrow product for both; with the women they’ll get a lipstick, with the men they’ll get a lip balm.”
Virtual workshops are held online multiple times a week to cater to those who are unable to make it to a live event.
“Very often for the virtual workshops we’ve got people who can’t get to a daytime workshop that we would normally run and for them it’s easier to do it at seven o’clock at night, or on a weekend, or a different day of the week,” Ms Venning said.
The workshops are designed to empower women and men by giving them skills and products to help them feel more confident while facing the challenges of cancer treatment.
Participants at the June 20 workshop will receive a complimentary “confidence kit” filled with cosmetic and skincare products, and written resources, sponsored by community and corporate partners such as Nivea.
Skincare and beauty brand Nivea has supported LGFB for over 20 years and is currently running a fundraising campaign where 10 cents from every one of its products sold at key Australian retailers between May 1 and July 30 will be donated to the charity.
Retailers included Coles, Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse. The target is $150,000.
Funds raised will go towards supplying LGFB with confidence kits.
“As a skincare brand built on the ethos of ‘Care Beyond Skin’, we have a responsibility to make a positive impact in the communities we operate in,” Nivea managing director of Beiersdorf Australia and New Zealand Clynton Bartholomeusz said.
The goal is to run upwards of 150 workshops for 1500 cancer patients in Australia.
The men’s Look Good Feel Better workshop will be held on Thursday, June 20, in the Elsie Jones Education Centre.
To register for the workshop, or a virtual workshop, donate, or sign up to volunteer, visit: lookgoodfeelbetter.org
“We hope fellow Aussies can join us in this meaningful campaign and also support the charity in any way they can,” Mr Bartholomeusz said.