The campaign story
Campaign founder, Helen Baker
How it all began
Maybe it’s because I am a mum of two boys, but every Mother’s Day, when my family and I are celebrating the day with a special trip out or enjoying a meal together, at some point I think about Jade Goody the reality tv star. Jade died of cervical cancer on Mother’s Day in 2009, aged just 27, leaving behind her two young sons.
Then in 2017, another life was taken by cervical cancer, this time much closer to home. A dear family friend who was like a second mum to my brother, sister and I when we were little. Yet another tragedy. Another life lost to cervical cancer, the fourth most common cancer in women.
Falling attendance rates
Later that same year, cervical screening attendance figures were published in the news. It was reported that attendance for these screenings were over a twenty year low, with one in three 25-29 year olds skipping appointments, citing body image and embarrassment as two of the main barriers to attend. Around the same time I received a letter and information booklet inviting me to book my three-yearly cervical screening appointment (smear test).
An initial glance through the 16 page text-heavy booklet was quite an eye-opener as a marketer and designer. There were only two illustrations and the rest was text explaining why you should attend the appointment and what happens during it. I of course understood that this information had to be included, but having an empathy-led approach to marketing and design meant I wanted to see more empathy around booking and attending an appointment and more relatable visuals to appeal to the first invited cohort of 25-29 year olds.
Understanding the importance of cervical screenings
I was driven to understand more about smear tests and learned that cervical screening provides the best protection against cervical cancer as it can prevent up to 75% of all cervical cancer from developing. It is also estimated that the NHS cervical screening programme saves around 5,000 lives a year.
A survey from Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust “Barriers to cervical screening among 25-29 year olds” revealed that uptake drops among 25-29 olds with only 63.3% attending appointments equating to almost a quarter of a million young women not taking up their invitation in England.
“When diagnosed, cervical cancer is one of the most successfully treatable forms of cancer, as long as it is detected early and managed effectively. Effective primary (HPV vaccination) and secondary prevention approaches (screening for, and treating precancerous lesions) will prevent most cervical cancer cases.” World Health Organisation (WHO)
The initial idea
Inspiration struck when I walked past a local beauty salon and I saw a sign in the window saying “How’s your lady garden?”, to encourage people to get bikini waxes. What if I could use the same relatable beauty language around lady gardens and being ‘beach ready’ to talk about smear tests: to create a unique ‘big sister’ approach? A social campaign targeting 25-29 year olds seemed the perfect fit.
Shortly afterwards I attended my screening (whilst keeping my socks on - I hate having cold feet!) and chatted to the nurse about the barriers of body image and embarrassment. She said how nurses have seen all shapes and sizes of bodies and all they focus on is doing their job of collecting cells from the cervix as quickly and as pain-free as possible.
Launching the campaign
Armed with national statistics and my skills as a marketer and designer, I set about making a collection of bite-sized, shareable graphics to be shared on social media and launched the campaign on International Women’s Day in March 2019.
To my delight (& relief!) so many people got involved by sharing the posts and helping to spread the message in their own individual way, gently encouraging and reminding the women in our lives to book and attend their appointments, however their lady gardens look.
“You don’t have to be beach ready to be smear ready. We are all smear ready”.
Discovering Craftivism
After the initial success of the campaign, I was looking for a way to continue the momentum by marking Cervical Screening Awareness Week which happens every year in June. What could people do get involved that was simple, easy and effective to help raise awareness?
During this time I binge-read ‘How to be a Craftivist’ by Sarah Corbett over a weekend. It’s unique way of combining eye-catching craft and activism as a gentle form of protest seemed perfect for the campaign.
A local craft group that I am part of was a great opportunity to try out some craftivism. We drew around the mini pants cardboard templates onto fabric scraps and embellished each pair with ribbons. The act of handling soft, tactile materials and focusing our eyes on the task in hand meant conversations flowed quite deeply about women’s health, our bodies and our experiences of smear tests themselves. It was here that I witnessed my first experience of the power of craftivism and how it’s slow and gentle approach encourages empathy and the potential to make a difference..
Pop-up Craftivism event
On the weekend before Cervical Screening Awareness Week I held a pop-up craftivism event in the centre of Bradford on Avon where I live. Passers-by were encouraged to make their mini pants with an accompanying information label and to drop them somewhere in public the following week. Throughout the day there was a steady stream of people stopping by, but one stood out in particular. She had come to the stand with her teenage son and asked what was happening.
When I explained what we were doing, all she said was “ergh” and quickly walked off. Half an hour later, she and her son returned. saying that she’d been thinking about the campaign and had decided that she wanted to make a pair of her own to put up at her place of work the following week.
This was gentle protest in action. I once again saw the impact of getting a message across in a thoughtful, positive way, the total opposite of protests, marches which are loud, ‘shouty’ and sometimes violent.
Support from the online craft community
Hundreds of people got involved with the campaign, especially the online creative community. Illustrators, paper cut artists, machine embroiderists and chocolatiers are just a few of the different types of people who made pants in their own style and medium. Click here to see a gallery of the pants that have been made.
In 2020 the campaign was all about rainbow pants to champion the amazing NHS nurses who carry out countless screenings and don’t care what your lady garden looks like, they’ve seen every variety.
This is the main campaign graphic posted on the first day of this year’s awareness week. It has been shared over 1.8k times on Facebook, reaching over 213,000 people including several medical practices using it to advertise that they are now able to carry out screenings.
What impact has the campaign had so far?
The campaign has received numerous messages from women saying the campaign had inspired them to book their appointments, many saying they had put it off for months, some years. Businesses nation-wide also got involved by sharing the campaign posts, images and infographics with offers of support, such as an hour of free childcare from @supersittersskt to attend a cervical screening and a free bikini wax from @xmbeauty for those who have booked their appointment.
Sexual Health professionals also shared the campaign graphics, reinforcing the campaign message: “Our lovely nursing staff at Sexual Health Wirral have seen it all. Nothing about your vulva and vagina will shock them. It's important to get screened.” @uk_taoi on Instagram
These are just a sample of responses to the campaign on social media:
“Great message, my smear saved my life!”
“What a fantastic way of reminding women of the importance of being regularly screened!”
“Loving the pants... Hoping they help someone”
“The most important test any lady could take! Thank you for sharing”
“Found this in a Bristol Pizza Hut toilet. I can't wait to do this, it's so important to get smears and yet so many don't”
“Oh those knickers are so cute. I had my letter come on Saturday for my first screening, booking in for mine today!”
Get involved in 2021!
Would you like to be part of the campaign and help spread an important message in 2021?
You can make your own pants with the downloadable templates and instructions, follow the campaign on social media @weareallsmearready and sign up to the newsletter below to get the latest news and updates. Thanks for your support!