Lid Lifted On Toilet Mystery As Health Campaign Revealed

Five decorative toilets that appeared at prominent Island locations earlier this week were placed there to highlight a major campaign raising awareness about bowel cancer, it can be revealed.

The ‘Your Loo Could Save You’ campaign seeks to make Islanders aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer, but also one of the most treatable if caught early. It will also encourage people aged between 50 and 74 to return their ‘poo tests’ which are routinely sent out as part of a national screening programme.

Several events will be taking place over the coming months inviting Islanders to lift the lid on their health. These events are part of a drive to raise bowel cancer awareness by highlighting the common symptoms and by encouraging people to contact their GP practice if they spot these signs.

Because some of the key symptoms are linked to going to the loo, the toilet was identified by campaign organisers One Wight Health – the Island’s federation of GP practices — as a symbol that would draw attention to the campaign launch and highlight the need for people to check before they flush.

Five porcelain toilets were kindly donated by Claygate and Woods Trade Supplies in Shanklin and then, via Creative Island’s IW Creative Network, local artists were invited to let their imaginations run wild by decorating the loos.

Island Roads donated time to fix the toilets to bases and Staddlestones Garage provided a van so the One Wight Health Team could set out the toilets at strategic locations under cover of darkness in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Images taken of the toilets, at Northwood Park, Cowes; Yarmouth Quay; Harvey Brown’s, Arreton: Brading Viewpoint car park and Ventnor Park were widely shared on social media and generous local media coverage meant the toilet launch made a splash.

Island GP, Dr David Isaac, said:

“We wanted to come up with something a bit different to get people talking and draw as much attention as possible to the ‘Your Loo Could Save You’ campaign.

"It was a fun way of hopefully starting to spread some serious health messages.

“Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, yet it’s still hard for many of us to talk about.

"But your toilet could tell you more than you think – and noticing changes in your bowel habits or noticing blood in your poo is important.

"We want people to not be embarrassed to talk about it with their GP practice and to seek help if they spot these signs.

“It’s most likely nothing to worry about, but it’s much better to get it checked and tackling it early on can make all the difference if treatment is needed.”

Dr Isaac added that he had been heartened by how eager the Island community was

to get behind the campaign launch.

“The artistic community really rallied round us to come up with some amazing eye-catching designs for the toilets.

“We only gave them a short lead in time, but they all came through with some stunning designs and we are so, so grateful to them all, to those who donated the toilets and also the landowners who let us display the loos.”

The toilets were created by Holly Maslen, Maddy Dobson, Josh Raffell, Gemma

Mallinson and Nathan Holt.

To find out more about the campaign, learn about the symptoms of bowel cancer and

how to do a ‘poo’ test, please go to www.yourloocouldsaveyou.co.uk

You can also read more on our website about our contributing artists.

The campaign will engage local communities through awareness events and provide

training for clinicians and patient advisors, ensuring they can support and encourage

more people to take part in screening.

Some common signs of bowel cancer are:

• A change in your normal bowel habits - such as needing to poo more often or feeling like you haven’t emptied your bowels properly

• Bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your poo

• Losing weight when you haven’t been trying to

• Frequent pain and/or a lump in your tummy

• Feeling breathless

• Feeling a lot more tired than usual