A partnership between Breast Cancer Care and Bowel Cancer UK has received £91,500 of funding from the Department of Health (DoH) to develop combined training courses for health professionals and local volunteers.

The charities came together to develop a groundbreaking programme of breast and bowel cancer awareness training courses aimed at reaching 4,500 people from disadvantaged backgrounds at community level.

The two-day training courses are available to community workers and local volunteers to aid early detection and reduce mortality rates from the cancers. 

Deborah Alsina, Bowel Cancer UK chief executive said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership to deliver these training courses.

"Participants will gain important information about bowel and breast cancer and the screening programmes for both diseases. It will also provide them with ideas about how to increase uptake in their area." 

The grant was received through the DoH's Innovation Excellence and Service Development Fund.