Primrose Foundation launches campaign to boost breast cancer screenings

Shelley Coleman (left) and Fiona Osmaston, from the Primrose Foundation, are urging people to attend breast cancer screenings

A breast cancer survivor from Plymouth has said the "bottom fell out of her world" after she was diagnosed.

Fiona Osmaston, the new chair of the Primrose Foundation, spoke about her cancer battle as part of a new campaign aimed at reversing a decline in the number of women attending screenings.

The charity wants to raise more money for NHS breast services to increase awareness about routine checks.

Ms Osmaston said she was lucky to be diagnosed early.

She said her cancer was picked up through routine screening.

"It's terrifying because I had been incredibly blasé about it all," she said.

"I went for my first mammogram, [was] quickly referred and I thought, do you know what it will be a smudge but it wasn't - it was three tumours.

"When you're told it's a cancer your bottom just falls out of your world and you just think - a cancer diagnosis - that's it."

The Primrose Foundation says nearly a third of those invited for a screening don't take up the offer.

The Derriford Hospital-based foundation said nearly a third of those invited for a screening did not take up the offer.

Shelley Coleman, a trustee at the charity, said there had been "quite a drop" in the take up of mammograms for a mixture of reasons.

"It tends to be in areas where people find it perhaps a bit more difficult to travel or are a bit reluctant to go, perhaps it is to do with Covid but it really has dropped," she said.

The charity encouraged both women and men to come forward for a check up if they have concerns.