Pants began after Jeannette Preston had womb cancer and realised that so many people didn’t have a clue that they could be at risk of this, and other cancers in the ‘pants’ area.

Being in contact with women around the world on the internet she found that many young women were dying through lack of knowledge about these cancers, and the stories of these 20 and 30 year olds having to tell their partners and their children that they would not be around at Christmas, much like Jade Goodey did, so moved her that she felt she wanted to do something about it…and Slowly things have been developing from sponsored swimming, and a launch by Mary May, Mayor of Penryn, last April with Mr Tito Lopes lead gynae cancer surgeon at the RCHT, PANTS has gone from strength to strength.

Jeannette realised that the best way to connect with young people was through music and in March had Eden Rocks for PANTS, and  on September 12th will have Falmouth Rocks for PANTS at the Pavilions. Rosie and the Goldbug headlined the Eden Event and supported PANTS.  Tito appeared on stage for a soundbite opportunity to get young people to become more aware- he said that Jeannette was trying to put him out of a job! There are plans to have places rocking for PANTS round the Southwest.

Cornwallsurfergirls adopted PANTS as their charity-they are a group of women who get together for fun events and to celebrate women’s surfing, and recently connected PANTS with Natalie Fox who organised Chicks with Sticks at the Carnmarth Hotel, Fistral Bay for a fabulous day of fun with the evening rounded off perfectly with local lifeguards and other beefcakes being auctioned to raise funds towards Environmental Issues affecting surfers. Cornwall’s gynae surgeons were sadly too busy to be part of the line up. It was a great event and PANTS will soon receive a cheque from the proceeds.

PANTS is celebrating becoming a Community Interest company (no 6922641) which means that it will operate as a Company with all the legal framework that requires and will be able to apply for grants and so on to help with the plans Jeannette and her Committee have to promote PANTS aims. An educational DVD is planned to take to groups, plus days when cancer survivors will share their experiences with health professionals to improve their practice, and a range of therapies will be on offer for people to pamper themselves with.

The gynae cancer team and many others at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and elsewhere support the work of PANTS and regularly take part in the fun events on offer. Mr Tito Lopes (the lead gynae cancer surgeon) regularly travels the world to share his knowledge and skills; we are very lucky to have the team we do in Cornwall.
The website www.pantsmatters.org.uk offers support to those with gynae and testicular cancers on its forum/blog and there is a wealth of information about signs and symptoms of cancer on the site.

Well Fit has adopted PANTS as their charity of the year and we look forward to some fun times with them raising awareness as to better health.
 
Jeannette Preston