As part of Brain Tumour Awareness month Hammer Out supporters are holding a series of ‘Hats on for March’ events at local businesses, clubs and other community groups. Hammer Out is joining forces with fellow brain tumour charities throughout the country to run this campaign.

Local organisers are being encouraged to pick a date in March and hold a ‘Wear a Hat’ day for brain tumours and donate a pound (or more if they so wish) to go towards brain tumour support and research.

Local Wear a Hat day organiser, Tina Mitchell Skinner, Founder and Chief Executive of Hammer Out says: ‘Every year 16,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour. More children and people under the age of 40 die of a brain tumour than leukaemia or any other cancer and five year survival is still only 14 per cent.
‘Put another way only 14 per cent of people diagnosed with brain cancer survive beyond five years compared to 50 per cent for all other cancers – and sadly brain tumour research is woefully under funded.

‘Brain tumours are indiscriminate in the people they affect: young or old, male or female, with no regard to race.  The prognosis is dependent on the type of tumour and its location in the brain; even a benign brain tumour can be life threatening. What’s more a benign tumour may become cancerous over time.  Advances in surgery can delay the inevitable, but can leave debilitating side effects.  Radiation therapy and some drugs can prolong life, but as yet there is no cure.  To date, we don’t fully understand the behaviour let alone the cause.

‘By holding a ‘Wear a Hat’ day in March we hope both to raise awareness of this disease and to encourage people to donate towards helping us to raise the funds to find a cure’.

All monies raised should be sent to:

Wear A Hat Day Campaign
Hammer Out
Unit One, Thornbury Office Park
Midland Way
Thornbury
South Gloucestershire
BS35 2BS