Today marks the beginning of Cambridge Pink Week, a week of events designed to help raise money for and awareness of breast cancer charities.

All proceeds raised from the events will go to Breast Cancer Care.

Pink Week was set up to endorse and continue the activism of the late Dana Rabinovitch, who wrote a regular column for The Guardian documenting her own experiences with cancer. Nina Rauch, an undergraduate at Clare College, conceived the idea of Pink Week before coming to Cambridge.

Pink Week was first launched in 2011 at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School. In 2014, a week of events was held within Clare College. This year, the initiative has expanded university-wide, with more than fifty representatives throughout various colleges.

Rauch is joined by Vice Chair Kate Davis, as well as by Eliza Elliot, Sarah Assaf, Rowan Douglas, Madee Higson, Claudia Barclay and Lizzie Walsh, on this year’s committee. 

Cambridge Pink Week will be opened with a pink-themed Clare Ents, followed by an official launch night on Sunday at the Sedgwick Earth Museum. ‘Pink Night at the Museum’ will offer pink food and drink as well as live music, tarot readings and magicians. Tickets have already sold out for the launch night, but remain available for the after-party ‘Crate Digging and Cocktails’ at La Raza.

The list of Pink Week events includes a talk by Dr Walid Khaled on Monday at Clare College reviewing the advances and challenges in cancer treatment since President Nixon’s declaration of war on cancer in the 1970s. Dr Khaled works at the forefront of cancer research and is scheduled to speak alongside Coppafeel, a charity that emphasises the importance of self-checking for early detection of breast cancer.

As part of its awareness program, Pink Week will run a ‘Pink Cheeks Tuesday’ event during which there will be dance classes at the Union, followed by smoothies in the bar.

Pink Week is also teaming up with RAG for an event on Wednesday, which requires all participants to wear pink, invoking Mean Girls. Coppafeel will be distributing information on cancer awareness outside Cindies.

Cambridge University Rugby Team has also joined the initiative, with a match against a team representing Wetherspoons at 7.15pm on 3rd March. All players will show their support by dressing in pink.

Cherie Blair, the patron of the national organisation Breast Cancer Care, will also be giving a talk at the ‘Clare Pink Formal’ on Thursday.

Badges will be on sale throughout the week, allowing participants to show their support for the initiative.

The organisers of Pink Week were clear on their website about the motivations that lay behind the event:

“Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with approximately 50,000 women and 350 men diagnosed each year. Due to innovative new research and fundraisers such as Pink Week, more people are surviving than ever before. Through spreading awareness of the disease and encouraging early detection, organisations such as this bring us that much closer to ending breast cancer forever.”

Samia al Qadhi, Chief Executive at Breast Cancer Care, said: “We’re thrilled the committee is organising ‘Pink Week’ to help raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer at Cambridge University. The majority of breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50, but it is still really important that people of all ages look at and feel their breasts regularly. One in eight women will be diagnosed in their lifetime, so it is crucial that people feel confident about recognising any unusual changes and don’t put off going to their GP.”

Further details can be found on the Cambridge Pink Week Facebook page, or on www.pinkweek.co.uk