Purple Boots Walk This Way for 500,000 Reasons

The Purple Boot Brigade has reached an exciting milestone, having raised an outstanding $500,000 since the campaign was launched in 2007. This great achievement was made possible due to the support of the 25,000 “foot soldiers” who sport their Steel Blue Purple Boots to promote breast cancer awareness and raise much needed funds for Breast Cancer Care WA.

The funds raised so far have been used to run annual national educational campaigns focusing on dispelling myths about breast cancer and teaching people how to be breast aware, with particular focus on younger women between the ages of 18 and 35.

“The principal objective of the Purple Boot Brigade is to support education and awareness programmes across the nation, while particularly targeting the youth to make the younger generation breast aware.  But we cannot stop striding towards our goals of making these services ongoing for people with breast cancer” said Ross Fitzgerald, General Manager Sales and Marketing, Steel Blue.

The need for breast awareness education from a young age is vital, with the number of women being diagnosed increasing from one-in-eleven to one-in-nine over recent years.

“Our objective is to educate women about good breast awareness habits from a young age and to highlight support services available to the community. It is important that young people have the information they need to support themselves or family members should they be affected by a breast cancer diagnosis,” said Vanessa Bradshaw, Breast Cancer Care WA.

Another major outcome of Steel Blue’s Purple Boot Brigade is the Breast Cancer Click online community and support network (breastcancerclick.com.au).

‘The Click’ is a place to connect with others affected by a breast cancer diagnosis, either as a patient, carer, family member or friend through online forums and personal blogs. Members can share their concerns and experiences with others in similar situations all across Australia and chat with the Click’s a free on-line breast care nurse, Glenys.

“I am so impressed with the site and the fantastic support it has already been for me! Glenys was just great with getting my feet back on the ground and facing things, especially the stuff I just couldn't get my head around to start with,” said a newly diagnosed 30 year old member.

Breast Cancer Care WA encourages anyone who has been touched by breast cancer, as a patient, family member or friend, to join the free online network.

With over 25,000 pairs of Steel Blue Purple Boots already sold, Breast Cancer Care WA has been able to create numerous education campaigns targeting people of all ages. They can continue to improve online support and national education with your help by continuing to buy purple boots.

The support for the Purple Boot Brigade has been fantastic but our job is not even nearly finished. We have new members signing up weekly for support so add a splash of colour to your boots and turn them purple right away.