Wow, what a few weeks it has been!
04 December 2025
Have you heard what's been going on?
Wow, what a few weeks we’ve had!
You may have seen our recent news story about how proud we were that the ‘This Van Can’ ovarian cancer awareness roadshow, which we ran alongside the NHS and Target Ovarian, was a finalist in the prestigious Health Service Journal Awards. The project was recognised in the Collaborative Communications Initiative of the Year category and we were thrilled to part of it.
Then, this month we were also invited to the I Love MCR Awards as we were finalists in their ‘Most-loved Community Group’ category for 2025. It was an incredible event – such a huge celebration of local people, local businesses and local organisations, with a great community spirit at its heart.
It’s obviously amazing and hugely humbling to be recognised at occasions like awards. We’re a tiny charity run almost entirely by volunteers but we hope we succeed in punching above our weight when it comes to shouting loudly about ovarian cancer and its symptoms.
But, while it’s amazing to attend the award ceremonies and be part of brilliant evenings celebrating some of the very best people and places around, being there is also important for another reason.
At the heart of our work is our ambitious vision to see a future where no-one in the North West dies from ovarian cancer. We know the impact early diagnosis can have and our spread the word campaign aims to reach as many people as possible about the symptoms to look out for.
Being part of awards or other events in this way; collaborating with other organisations as we did with the ‘This Van Can’ roadshow; speaking at events and being invited by community groups to share more about ovarian cancer…it all helps raise awareness and means we can be much, much bigger than the sum of our parts.
And, if even one person hears about our charity, engages with the information we’ve created about the signs and symptoms to look out for, and sees their GP about anything they’re concerned about, it is all more than worthwhile.
We know from feedback we received that it literally saves lives.
As our chair of trustees, Jo Rosenberg, said: “Dianne was my best mate and, by setting up the charity in her name, we were adamant that we wanted to see a time when other people don’t have to go through losing their friend in such a tragic circumstance as we did.
“Please, please, please, familiarise yourself with the symptoms to look out for when it comes to ovarian cancer and if you can, get in touch if you can help us spread the word.
"We’ve loads of materials and information available that we can provide to you for free – from screens you can add to your work computers as a reminder when people log in on a morning, to postcards, posters and leaflets and much more. And, we’re always happy to meet you, have a chat or talk about any ideas around ways we could spread the word.”
“Let’s break the taboo around women’s health care and encourage and empower people across the North West to have these important conversations – together.”
As the end of the year draws nearer, we want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been part of the Dianne Oxberry Trust story to date. We have big plans for 2026 and beyond that we can’t wait to share.
Watch this space!
