A TEACHER who’s in remission after being treated for breast cancer is spearheading a campaign to help other victims of the disease to look good and feel better.

Sian Collings, 37, of Gwernymynydd, Flintshire, is joining forces with the beauty team at the Debenhams store at the Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre in Wrexham for a weekend charity event on April 28 and 29.

They are hoping to raise a bucket full of cash for the women’s cancer charity, Look Good, Feel Better.

Specialist make-up artists will be on hand to help advise on make-up and skin care and can show women who have lost their hair through cancer treatments techniques to help apply cosmetic products to give the appearance of eye lines and natural eye brows.

Qualified bra fitters will also be available to help women who have undergone mastectomies and lumpectomies feel comfier and more confident whether it’s everyday underwear they need or swimwear for the beach.

Sian Collings, who teaches history at Ysgol Maelor in Penley, 37, was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2015.

Although she is now in remission after undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she still faces a decade of monthly injections.

She said “I was lucky in one sense that I didn’t have to have a mastectomy, but I did have a substantial lumpectomy including the removal of the lymph nodes under my left arm.

“I had six bouts of chemotherapy and 20 bouts of radiotherapy. I have now had the all clear but I have to have an injection, in my tummy, every 28 days. The injection basically stops my body producing oestrogen.

“My cancer was oestrogen-based so by stopping my body from producing oestrogen it’s hoped we can stop the cancer from returning. I will need to have the injections, every 28 days for the next 10 years but that’s a small price to pay.

“The worst thing about my cancer journey was the loss of my hair. It sounds vain, but it isn’t. Losing my hair to the chemotherapy was worse than the cancer itself in many ways.

“I actually shaved my head myself the moment it started to fall out. I just didn’t want to wake up every morning with lumps of my hair on the pillow. Cancer is one thing but to a woman, losing her hair or breasts is just unimaginable, it’s a terrible thing to have to go through.

“So for me, anything that is going to help other women who are being treated or have been treated for cancer, to feel better about themselves is a great idea and I fully support what the beauty team at Debenhams are doing.

She added: “Raising my left arm, due to the surgery, is very painful and that’s not good for a teacher who needs to write on a white board most of the day!

“Fortunately my head teacher, Simon Ellis, has been incredibly supportive and got me a device that means I can write at desk level and the copy is projected onto the board.

“In fact, but for the support I have had from Simon Ellis and the senior management of Ysgol Maelor, and everyone at the Shooting Star Unit at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital who are amazing, I would almost certainly have had to give up my job.

“My pupils have been fantastic too. I had to tell them I was going to be off for around a year. In fact it was nine months in the end, while I was treated and was honest and told them I was being treated for cancer.”

According to Debenhams beauty department manager Karen Roberts, the event will be based in the store’s lingerie department and is aimed at giving women being treated for cancer advice and confidence so they really can look good and feel better.

She said: “It’s going to be very private and we will have trained bra fitters, who also deal with women who have had mastectomies, on hand to give help and advice. And we are going to show case swimwear so those women can have confidence and feel empowered when they go on holiday.

“We are also going to have beauticians and make-up artists on hand who are trained to help women with hair loss issues due to cancer treatments and we will be holding a raffle and fundraising ideas in favour of Look Good Feel Better which is our nominated charity.”

She added: “I would encourage any woman who has had or who is undergoing cancer treatment to come along to the event. It’s is private and confidential and we just hope we can help make a difference. This is all about image and how a woman feels.”

To find out more about the Look Good Feel Better charity please visit www.lookgoodfeelbeytter.co.uk