Source: Durham Women

Durham Women team up with Amber’s Law

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Durham Women FC have announced that they have teamed-up with Amber’s Law – who will become their first Official Charity Partner.

As part of their continued work in the community, players and staff were keen to use their platform to support the work of a local charity doing important work.

And they were delighted that Amber’s Law agreed to become their first Official Charity Partner.

The partnership will see the Amber’s Law logo take pride of place on the sleeves of Durham Women’s first-team home shirts, while the club and the charity will work in tandem to raise awareness of this valuable cause in the local community.

Amber’s Law is an ongoing petition to change the NHS guidelines around cervical screening so that it is available to high risk groups from the age of 18.

Amber went to the doctors multiple times and was refused a screening on all of those occasions because her age was below the NHS guidelines.

Amber then went on to pay for a private screening at the age of 21 and found she had cervical cancer that had been there for between two and four years already. This, over the course of four years, spread to her lungs and her throat and Amber sadly died at the age of 25.

The charity was formed following Amber’s death in January 2017, when those behind the petition were approached by long-running charity Hope4kidz – who are based in Sunderland and are a provider of help, gifts, holiday breaks and similar experiences for those under-25 who have suffered or are suffering from illnesses, health problems or disabilities.

Amber’s Law has worked steadily over the past three and a half years to raise awareness of cervical cancer to young women, as well as providing funding for young girls under-25 to attend private smear tests – as the NHS do not test people under 25 as the law stands, even if they are showing symptoms.

Amber’s story has created nationwide awareness via the TV, media and news outlets – with a lot of girls joining the charity’s social media platforms which gives them a space to voice their concerns of their condition.

This in turn has led to the funding of dozens of private smear tests and, unfortunately, some of the girls were found to have varying degrees of cervical cancer.

But luckily, because they were caught at fairly early stages, their subsequent treatment has undoubtedly saved lives.

Cases such as these have proven a driving force for Amber’s Law as they continue campaigning for change, to create a ‘smear on demand’ law – where any girl under-25 showing symptoms can request a smear test.

The charity has had high level meetings in parliament and were making great inroads to achieving this before COVID-19 struck.

They are hopeful to be heading back to parliament in the near future to continue these talks, while they continue their great work on a local level.

And Amber’s Law is delighted to be working with Durham Women to help raise crucial awareness of their work and the support available to young girls.

Commenting on the partnership, Darren Cliff said: “We are very passionate at Amber’s Law to get the message out there to girls of certain age groups, so that they are aware of how cervical cancer signs can be spotted and what they should do should they see or feel anything that is abnormal.

“Joining forces with Durham Women FC is a fantastic platform to do this and we are very keen to get this moving.

“Amber’s Law are very grateful to Durham Women FC for this opportunity as it is very possible that lives can continue to be saved.”

Durham Women FC captain Sarah Wilson added: “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with a charity like Amber’s Law.

“It’s so important that we utilise the platform that we have to raise awareness.

“It’s something that if we can get comfortable talking about, and even just help one person, then we’ve supported and done our job.”

You can find out more about Amber’s Law by visiting their social media channels and website:

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