Welcome to my fundraising page for CoppaFeel!

This November I will set out on a challenging, extraordinary, and life-changing trek, all in the name of checking chests! I am taking on 100km of Morocco's forbidding Sahara Desert in a bid to raise vital funds towards our life-saving mission. Your donations will not only support my fundraising target but most importantly CoppaFeel!.

They are a charity on a mission to stamp out the late diagnosis of breast cancer by making sure that young people are regularly checking their boobs, pecs, and chests and getting to know their bodies in order to have the confidence to see their GP if something just doesn't feel normal.

But why CoppaFeel!, you might ask?

In May 2020, right in the middle of the UK's first lockdown, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34. I was extremely lucky to have it caught at a very early stage, and underwent a unilateral mastectomy in June of that year to remove it, followed by a prophylactic surgery to remove the other side last June 2021. Not a day goes by where I am not grateful beyond measure that it was found when it was and that my treatment was decisive and relatively straightforward; not everyone gets off so easily and I don't ever take it (or my life) for granted.

To be honest, though, catching it when I did was more than just luck - ultimately, it was down to knowing my body, what's normal, what's not, and relentlessly pushing for answers when I knew something wasn't right. I had known about CoppaFeel! and their message before this happened, and 100% credit them for planting the boob-checking seed in my brain. Who knows if I would have been so persistent with having things looked into had it not been for them?

Since my diagnosis, I have made it my mission to raise awareness, especially in younger people who might think this could never happen to them. One of the best ways I could see of doing so was to get involved with the charity that brought so much to my attention - yes, you guessed it, CoppaFeel!. So last year I applied for and was amazingly accepted to become one of their Boobettes, a group of people who have in one way or another had their lives impacted by breast cancer before age 36, delivering the serious life saving/early detection message of CF! in a lighthearted and relatable way to schools, businesses, groups, and organizations around the UK. It has been a true privilege to be able to give back in this way, and I look forward to many more years of doing so.

My interest in getting involved with CF! didn't stop there, though. Every year they host a fundraising trek in some far-flung corner of the globe, and if you know me with my endless wanderlust and adventure-soul, you'll know I had to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Because of my surgery, I couldn't apply last year; however, this year I went for it, and [spoiler alert] got accepted to take part. To say I am honoured and excited would be the understatement of the century. It is going to challenge me both physically and mentally beyond anything I've ever known, but it is also going to aid in getting the message out there in ways beyond my wildest dreams, alongside a group of other incredible humans.

Life is for living and I plan to keep on doing as much of that as is humanly possible while I am still able to, while always striving to share the love along the way!

I'll be doing all sorts of fun things to help fundraise, so stay tuned for more information over the coming months on ways to get involved. If you'd like to follow along with these antics, my training, and the main event itself in November, I'll be posting regular updates on Instagram @avivajewel

I can't thank you enough for your donation & support. Every little bit makes a huge difference and will be going directly to an amazing cause that continues to help both myself and countless others.

To find out more about CoppaFeel! head to www.coppafeel.org.