Social media silence to raise disease awareness

A DAY of social media silence is being planned for later this month in support of a Birmingham-based charity.

The ‘social silence’ has been organised by a Herefordshire schoolgirl in aid of Get A-Head which is based at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

The initiative is encouraging Twitter users to post the hashtag #GAHSocialSilence and not tweet for 24 hours on September 16 to raise awareness of Get A-Head and its support for those with head and neck diseases and cancers.

The campaign was sparked by Alice Bridges who took part in a sponsored silence to raise cash in memory of a friend who died in 2014 from a rare form of cancer called adenoid cystic carcinoma which arises in the head and neck.

Anne Aurousseau was a mother of three from Hitchin in Herefordshire who had helped raise money for the Get A-Head charity before she died.

Louise Newton, charity manager of Get A-Head, said: “In the work we do, we see patients lose their voice, which is just one of many devastating effects of head and neck cancer, meaning their main means of communication is lost. People who contribute to the one-day social media silence will gain an insight into what losing that ability to communicate can mean even for a short time.”

Get A-Head recently joined forces with the QE Hospital to help bring in a new 3D printer which now helps patients who are undergoing reconstructive surgery.