The Castlepoint Lighthouse will be lit up yellow for the Wairarapa Cancer Society. PHOTO/FILE
The Castlepoint lighthouse will be lit up yellow in support of the Wairarapa Cancer Society’s 35 years of service to the community.
Daffodil Day is this Friday, August 30, and the lighthouse will be lit up on Friday and Saturday night.
Wairarapa Cancer Society manager Jacinta Buchanan said she was thankful for the support of the Friends of the Castlepoint Lighthouse Group who helped make the idea possible.
And if you frequent the beach regularly, there’s one piece of advice the Wairarapa Cancer Society would like to share.
Slip, slop, slap.
Slip on a shirt, Slop on the 50+ sunscreen, and slap on a hat.
New Zealand has one of the highest levels of ultraviolet radiation in the world during summer, as well as one of the highest rates of melanoma.
One of the reasons is that the sun is closer to the earth during southern hemisphere summer compared with northern hemisphere summers.
UVR burns skin and increases people’s risk of cancer.
Wairarapa Cancer Society health promoter Joanne Carter said people could not feel UVR because it was separate from the heat from the sun.
“That means on cool days you will still get burnt if you don’t have protection from clothing such as collars and sleeves, hats, and sunscreen.
She said the majority of a person’s lifetime UVR exposure happened during childhood.
“That’s why the Cancer Society is working with an increasing number of schools to help create school environments that protect children during summer.
“In Wairarapa there are 10 accredited Sunsmart primary schools with many more working on a policy to meet the recommended best practice behaviours to keep our children safe.”
For more information about the Cancer Society SunSmart Schools Accreditation Programme, contact Joanne Carter on 06 378 8039 or email [email protected].
This month, the Wairarapa Cancer Society is wanting to “paint the towns yellow”, to bring cancer awareness to the forefront of people’s minds.
Each week in August, the Wairarapa Midweek will run stories from the Wairarapa Cancer Society to support this campaign.
