Boots UK and Macmillan Cancer Support know that when you’re living with or after cancer, physical activity can make a positive impact on your life and even a short stroll can make all the difference. Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists have been given additional training to offer information on how to get active. They can also help connect people to cancer support in their local area and provide a new exercise DVD, at a time when they need it most.
 
The new ‘Get Active, Feel Good’ exercise DVD, developed by Macmillan Cancer Support, is free and available in Boots UK stores from 3 July 2013. The DVD offers a low level exercise to music programme designed specifically for people living with or after cancer and stories from people describing how becoming active has helped them.
 
Abdullah Preston from Heston, London, said “It’s great that I can now go to my local Boots pharmacy and not only find out more about what is available in my area to help me get active, but also pick up this great DVD. There is so much information that you have to digest when you are diagnosed and when you are going through treatment, that thinking about the benefits of being active is just not front of mind. I wouldn’t have known where to turn to for further information on keeping active so having easy access to this kind of support really helps.”
 
Physical activity can help boost energy after treatment, is safe to do so at an appropriate pace, and can also reduce the impact of side effects such as anxiety, depression and impaired mobility³. There is also emerging evidence that physical activity may help reduce the relative risk of recurrence, and disease progression of some cancers. Long-term it is an effective way to help recover physical function, manage fatigue, improve quality of life and mental health, and control body weight³.
 
Angela Chalmers, Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacist, said “I have seen first-hand the difference talking things through can make to people who are living with or after cancer. Community Pharmacy provides a convenient way for people to access information and support and Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists can now offer additional guidance to help people affected by cancer to get active.”
 
As one of the most trusted professions in the UK, combined with being at the forefront of patient care, pharmacists are in a unique position to deliver additional information to those affected by cancer, on the high street within the community.
 
Prof Robert Thomas, Consultant Oncologist at Bedford and Addenbrooke's Cambridge University Hospitals comments “Regular physical activity is fundamentally important after cancer – taken regularly, it has a major impact on the speed of recovery after cancer treatments as well as improving the chance a of long term, fulfilling, survival. It is great to be able to offer patients another touch point within their community where they can receive information as this will enhance the level of support available to them at a local level. This is particularly important as latest research indicates that by 2020 almost one in two people (47%) will get cancer in their lifetime.”
 
Visit www.boots.com/cancer to find your nearest Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacist.
 

• For cancer support contact Macmillan on 0808 808 0000 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk
• BootsWebMD.com has a specific cancer health centre which offers information and support to people affected by cancer as well as the latest cancer news

 
For more information
Please contact the Boots UK Press Office on 020 7025 6657 / bootshealthteam@redconsultancy.com
 
About Boots UK
Boots UK is the leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer in the UK, with close to 2,500 Boots UK stores and nearly 62,000 employees. Boots UK’s purpose is to help customers look and feel better than they ever thought possible.  Customers are at the heart of the Boots business which is committed to providing exceptional customer and patient care, be the first choice for pharmacy and healthcare, offer innovative products 'only at Boots' such as the UK’s leading skincare brand No7, all delivered with the great value our customers love.  Created over 160 years ago, the Boots brand is still at the heart of the communities it serves.
 
Boots UK is a member of Alliance Boots, a leading international, pharmacy-led health and beauty group delivering a range of products and services to customers.   Working in close partnership with manufacturers and pharmacists, Alliance Boots is committed to improving health in the local communities it serves and helping its customers and patients to look and feel their best.  Its focus is on growing its two core businesses:  pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution.  Alliance Boots has a presence in more than 25* countries and employs over 116,000* people.  Alliance Boots has pharmacy-led health and beauty retail businesses in 11* countries and operates more than 3,330* health and beauty retail stores, of which just over 3,200* have a pharmacy.
 
* Figures approximate at 31 March 2012, including share of associates and joint ventures.
 
About Macmillan Cancer Support
More than one in three of us will get cancer. For most of us it will be the toughest fight we ever face. And the feelings of isolation and loneliness that so many people experience make it even harder.
But you don’t have to go through it alone. The Macmillan team is with you every step of the way.
We are the nurses and therapists helping you through treatment. The experts on the end of the phone. The advisers telling you which benefits you’re entitled to. The volunteers giving you a hand with the everyday things. The campaigners improving cancer care. The community there for you online, any time. The supporters who make it all possible.
 
Together, we are all Macmillan Cancer Support.
 
About the Macmillan Cancer Support and Boots UK partnership
Cancer is often the toughest fight many people will face. Boots UK and Macmillan Cancer Support are working together to ensure everyone affected by cancer, wherever they are in the UK, has access through Boots to the best cancer information and support in their local community.
 
Through the partnership, Boots is introducing bespoke training for its pharmacists, healthcare colleagues and No7 advisors to help deliver more ways for people affected by cancer to get information and support on the high street, in local communities and online.  Boots colleagues and customers have already raised £6 million for Macmillan over three years.  For more information, visit macmillan.org.uk/boots.
 
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