Celebrities such as model Samantha Harris, who lost her beloved auntie to the disease, and TV presenter Sally Obermeder are just two of the many to volunteer their support to the Witchery-backed campaign.
Sally, 42, has more reason than most to be concerned about women’s cancers.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, the day before giving birth to her longed-for daughter Annabelle.
After eight months of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy she’s been cancer-free ever since, but she never takes her second-chance at life for granted.
“It’s so important that we talk about these issues,” Sally tells Sunday Style.
“If a friend has concerns, instead of saying, ‘I’m sure it’s nothing’ – we need to say, ‘If you’ve got bloating, if you need to go to the bathroom more frequently, those are symptoms of ovarian cancer, so go see your doctor’. That’s being a true friend.”
Media star Ita Buttrose is a tireless ambassador for a number of causes, but after losing her brother Will to cancer, it’s this disease that’s close to her heart.
She’s especially concerned about how it impacts on the lives of Australian women.
“A lot of women tend to overlook their own health needs as they’re so busy looking after everyone else,” she says.
“So you have to remind them occasionally that it’s important to look after themselves.”
Ovarian cancer has a lower survival rate than both breast and cervical cancer, and unlike other cancers, there is no early detection test.
It is estimated that 80% of women are already in the advanced stages of the disease when diagnosed.
In Australia alone, one woman dies from ovarian cancer every 10 hours and 350 new cases are diagnosed in New Zealand each year.
To help much-needed funds to fight the disease, Witchery is pitching in again with its White Shirt Campaign.
For each white shirt sold from now until May 2, the retail giant will donate everything (except GST) to the OCRF.
In return, Witchery is asking that you share a photo in your shirt and finish the sentence “I wear a white shirt because” with a message that encourages support.
Participants are also encouraged to tag #WHITESHIRTCAMPAIGN, @ocrf and @witcheryfashion and nominate a friend to join the fight and share why they wear a white shirt too.
