Former bank to become breast prostheses shop

The breathable and washable breast forms are designed for women who have had a mastectomy

A former bank is to be given a new lease of life as a shop selling products to women who have had breast cancer.

A company from Calstock, Cornwall called Boost makes breast prostheses and has bought the prominent building at the top of Pike Street in Liskeard.

Samantha Jackman founded Boost in 2018 and has been working out of her converted garage until now, but is to move to the former Barclays Bank, which closed in March 2023.

Lynn Gledhill, who had a mastectomy three months ago, says it will be a "great thing" to have a breast shop in the town centre.

Lynn Gledhill says having a shop that sells breast forms in the high street will save a lot of stress

Ms Gledhill was diagnosed with breast cancer following a routine mammogram test three months ago.

"It's been the most extremely stressful thing that has ever happened to me. It's been really truly awful, " she said.

"I went for surgery but the actual prosthesis were really difficult to find, I had to go online and do a lot of research and it was like I was in the dark really."

'Really really useful'

Mrs Gledhill discovered the Boost website and bought one because she thought it looked different and a bit "funky".

"I felt okay using it and it was fantastic in my swimsuit. It just dried so quickly, it wasn't some solid mass, it was just really really useful," she said.

She says the prospect of having a breast form shop in Liskeard was fantastic.

"Because if it helps other people not go through what I did, it's a great thing. People can come and ask advice and try things on, it's just a really great thing for the town."

"I wish we'd had it when I was being diagnosed three months ago, it would have saved a lot of tears," she said.

Samantha Jackman says women need what they manufacture and we are ready to grow

Samantha Jackman has won design awards for her breast prosthetics and has recently been awarded £235,000 from Cornwall Council's Good Growth Fund for research and development, a total that has been matched by a private investor.

She said: "Our main office, packing facilities and boob making was basically outside my house in the workshop that was in the garden, so this is a huge step up for us and it's really needed," she said.

"Women need what we do and we're ready to grow.

"We'd been looking for a new premises for a while and it's been quite tricky.

"We didn't believe that the research and development that we do or the kind of work we do with women and women's health, needed to be hidden away on an industrial unit somewhere.

"We need that space where we can do the making, the prototyping, the manufacturing that we do, as well as having that space where women can be feeling really welcome, people can come in and have a coffee and find that support."