STOCKTON’s Riverside and Town Hall has been illuminated purple in support of Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Purple Lights for Hope campaign.
The campaign is part of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November and calls on individuals, groups and businesses to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer in the UK by embracing purple, the symbolic colour for the disease.
Last night (Sunday, Nov 1) Stockton Borough Council illuminated Stockton Town Hall in purple lights and changed the multi-coloured lighting along the Riverside so it glows purple overnight between the Princess of Wales Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.
Pancreatic cancer affects about 30 people per year within the Stockton district, although numbers appear to be slowly increasing over time.
Only around four per cent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for five years or more. This figure has hardly changed in 40 years.
Cllr Jim Beall, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Health, said: “This weekend we are putting the spotlight on pancreatic cancer to highlight a disease that many people still know very little about.”
Throughout the campaign, supporters will be uploading photos and updates from across the UK on Pancreatic Cancer UK’s social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter (using the hashtag #purplelights).
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