THE Bull ‘n’ Bush Hotel in Medowie was the venue for Tradies Support the Ladies launch party on 5 April.

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Lucky door prizes donated by local businesses were on offer for the launch which was orchestrated by Medowie resident, Ms Kristy Ashton.

The brainchild of Tamworth Tradies Mr Gary Sinclair and Mr Mathew Whitson and started in 2017, Tradies Support the Ladies is a not-for-profit organisation with the goal of increasing men’s awareness of their role in supporting women in identification and treatment of breast cancer.

Both Mr Whitson’s and Mr Sinclair’s partners were diagnosed with breast cancer as younger women and neither presented with the most common symptom of a breast lump.

Mr Whitson told News Of The Area, “Gary and I shared our experiences of our wives’ breast cancer journeys and we both wished we’d been more aware of the symptoms and what to look for.”

“We decided to raise awareness by wearing pink shirts to work on Fridays.”

“We wanted to get the conversation started about what to look for and how to support families through this hard time.”

“Early detection of cancer means the chance of successful treatment are considerably increased,” Mr Sullivan told News Of The Area.

“By having these conversations, we know we can’t cure cancer but we believe it can lead to earlier detection.”

Since the organisation’s inception Tamworth workwear retailer Hip Pocket Workwear and Safety have supplied over 500 pink shirts to tradies and business owners in the area.

“We are known as the Pink Army,” said Mr Sullivan.

Tradies Support the Ladies does not take donations.

The organisation is focused on raising awareness and any donations are directed to organisations such as The McGrath Foundation, National Breast Cancer Foundation, or Breast Cancer Network Australia.

Hip Pocket Workwear and Safety, located in Wallsend and Maitland, has a variety of pink shirts and Tradies Support the Ladies logo patches available with 10% of sales donated to the Cancer Council NSW.

You can find Tradies Support the Ladies on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tradiessupporttheladies.

For any enquiries about getting your workplace involved please text or call Gary Sinclair on 0447 045 692.

By Liz MUDD