Raising awareness of bowel cancer screening with our Nepalese community | News

Royal Surrey’s Bowel Cancer Screening Team attended the Gurkha Cup football tournament in Aldershot last month, to raise awareness of their service with the local Nepalese community.

Armed with information leaflets that had been kindly translated into Nepalese by colleagues at the Surrey and Sussex Cancer Alliance, the team joined other health services, charities, and businesses exhibiting at the event, which attracted visitors from across the UK and overseas.

The main objective of the Gurkha Cup is to bring the Nepalese community together and promote social integration and well-being, so it offered an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about Royal Surrey’s bowel cancer screening service among residents living in areas around Frimley, Farnborough, and Aldershot.

The team explained to people, in their own language, the signs and symptoms to look out for, the importance of getting checked, and what to expect from the NHS screening programme. They were also able to demonstrate how FIT rapid test kits work and how easy it is for people to do these at home.

Binukala Rai, Specialist Screening Practitioner Nurse, said:

“Being able to talk to people in Nepalese was very reassuring for them, especially the older generation who don’t speak English, don’t necessarily read, and may live alone.

“We were able to educate them, or their family members, on the benefits of Bowel Cancer Screening and encourage them to reach out to their GP or the Bowel Cancer Screening Hub at Surrey Research Park.

“The event was a great success and has sparked a desire for our team to do more health promotion in the community in the future.”

Pictured: Ricardo Espino, Binukala Rai, Sunita Acharya Giri, Kalpana Rai, Anil Gurung.