Cancer support charity Look Good Feel Better is joining forces with England Netball and Debenhams to launch a sports tournament with a difference. The two day netball event (Sat 3rd/Sun 4th Oct 2020) is being held at the Copper Box Arena in London's Olympic Park and offers a fantastic opportunity for both professional and amateur netball players to come together and participate in an action-packed day, while raising much-needed funds to help people face their cancer with confidence.
The indoor netball tournament welcomes players and teams of all levels, who will receive coaching and umpiring from England Netball professionals. All players will also receive a goodie bag worth GBP100 at the end of an action-packed day. The event, which is now in its fourth year, has raised over GBP121,000 to date for over 2,500 people living with cancer.
All monies raised during the weekend will help Look Good Feel Better continue to provide workshops and advice for women, men and young adults undergoing treatment for any type of cancer. The charity organises group sessions led by trained volunteers which provide people undergoing cancer treatment a chance to meet others in a similar situation, as well as teaching them useful skills and techniques to help manage the side-effects of cancer treatment such as skin changes or loss of eyebrows and eyelashes.
Ian Daniels, Director of Fundraising at Look Good Feel Better, says: 'People undergoing cancer treatment who attend our workshops receive practical advice on dealing with the physical changes that cancer treatment can have. The support they encounter during the session will also have an important impact on their sense of well-being. Our workshops make a significant difference to how people feel about themselves, helping them regain a feeling of confidence and self-esteem. They provide a safe environment for shared experiences, which can have both a lasting and transformational effect at an incredibly tough time in someone's life.'
England Netball is the national governing body of England's biggest female team sport. Its CEO, Fran Connolly, adds: 'We are delighted to be in partnership with Look Good Feel Better for another year. We deliver the netball aspect of the event and are extremely keen to make this year the biggest yet, with the aim to increase teams to over 50 across the two days and raise the profile of Look Good Feel Better as much as possible. It's all for such a great cause that we are excited to see this event go from strength to strength.'
Ian Daniels continues: 'The tournament was originally launched with the objective of engaging with a broader sports and health conscious audience. As netball is the number one team sport played by females in England, we saw this a great opportunity to raise awareness about our efforts to support people undergoing cancer treatment. With one in two people being diagnosed with cancer in the UK, it is a disease that can touch us all. Cancer doesn't discriminate - anyone can be affected. We are very grateful to England Netball and Debenhams for their invaluable support.'
Debenhams, which has chosen Look Good Feel Better as its charity partner of choice for the fourth year running, is sponsoring the netball event for the first time in 2020. The company is proud to support the communities in which it serves in line with its mission to support charities that boost confidence and wellbeing, with a particular focus on empowering women. The netball tournament is an ideal way of uniting staff, customers and community to support their chosen cause. Staff from across the business will be actively involved by entering teams and raising funds for the charity, driving employee engagement and connection with their charity partner.
Abigail Comber, Chief Marketing Officer at Debenhams, states: 'We are thrilled to be the official sponsor for the Look Good Feel Better Tournament this year. We welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our support for this wonderful charity by providing a platform to bring the community together, in addition to the support we give within our stores across the UK. We passionately support the work of Look Good Feel Better and our colleagues love contributing towards the important work that they do.'
Registration for teams is now open via the charity website, please visit https://www.lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk/get-involved/netballtournament/
ENDS
Notes to Editors
About Look Good Feel Better
Look Good Feel Better, which was launched in 1994, is a UK based cancer support charity. It is part of an international organisation operating in 27 countries worldwide, which has supported two million people. It is the only charity offering support to women, men and young adults to help combat the physical and psychological side-effects of their treatment. In the UK, the programme is offered in over 140 hospitals and cancer care centres and to date has supported over 185,000 people living with cancer. Please visit www.lgfb.co.uk
About England Netball
England Netball is the national governing body for England's biggest female team sport. It oversees and is responsible for the strategic plan of the sport across the country. England Netball is customer-focused sport business, its visions include delivering a first class member and participation experience, and leading an effective and progressive infrastructure enabling all involved in the netball experience to collaborate as one team aligned behind one dream. It runs a number of participation programmes including Walking Netball, Back to Netball, Netball Now, Bee Netball, and Workplace Netball, amongst others. The Vitality Roses; England Netball's senior team, are currently third in the International Netball Federation World Rankings. England Netball and its event partners secured the rights to host the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019 in Liverpool, which saw the Vitality Roses secure bronze on the international stage. Since the Vitality Netball World Cup more than 160,000 people have been inspired to play netball or more netball. England Netball continues to see significant growth in participation, sponsorship deals and ticket revenue. http://englandnetball.co.uk/
About Debenhams
Debenhams is a leading international, department store destination with a proud British heritage which trades out of around 220 stores and is available online in more than 90 countries at www.debenhams.com. It is one of the top five fashion retailers in the UK and has a leading market position in premium beauty both in-store and online. Since April 2017 Debenhams partnered with Look Good Feel Better to support the communities which it serves. In line with the mission to support charities that boost confidence and wellbeing, with particular focus on empowering women. More detail on Debenhams' approach to sustainability, 'doing our bit', may be found at http://sustainability.debenhamsplc.com
DEBENHAMS PLC 