AVON AUSTRALIA TO DONATE $1 MILLION

• Avon will donate $1 million to the Australia and New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group this October
• Launch of the #AvonMillionCrusade social media campaign encourages everyone to reveal why they support the Crusade to cure breast cancer

This October, to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Avon Australia has announced the company will donate $1 million to the Australia and New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZBCTG) to fund vital clinical trials research, and help make breast cancer history.

Through the sale of its Breast Cancer Crusade products, Avon Australia has donated half a million dollars to the ANZBCTG each year, for the past 16 years – all up that’s over $8.4 million. These funds have enabled research which might not have otherwise been possible helping to save many lives.

This year, the beauty powerhouse wanted go even bigger, announcing it will double its annual $500,000 donation in 2014 to $1 million – making this Avon Australia’s largest ever single donation to the breast cancer cause.

The $1 million donation will help fund the ANZBCTG’s independent and collaborative clinical trials research program, improving breast cancer treatments, patient outcomes, and prevention strategies for all, particularly those women at increased risk.

“Breast cancer is not one single disease – it is different for every woman diagnosed. Our challenge is to identify through clinical trials, the most effective tailored treatment which can meet the individual needs of each woman and which will provide her with the best chance of long term cure. This $1 million donation from Avon means our researchers can conduct more clinical trials and provide more women with access to them. What is learned from this research can help to save the life of every woman diagnosed with breast cancer and prevent the heartbreak families experience every day,”

said Professor Fran Boyle AM, Medical Oncologist and Chair of the ANZBCTG.

To coincide with the million-dollar donation and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Avon is also launching the ‘Million Reasons’ social media campaign to get the world talking about breast cancer, sharing their reasons for supporting the crusade to find the cure for every woman diagnosed.

Head of Commercial Marketing at Avon, Anthony Dene explains:

“This Breast Cancer Awareness Month we wanted to start a conversation. With 1.67 million incidences of the disease reported around the world in 2012, it’s clear breast cancer affects people from all walks of life. Our social media campaign aims to connect those people directly and indirectly affected by breast cancer and share their stories of hope, love and determination to beat this disease.”

Using the hashtag #AvonMillionCrusade, the company encourages people around the world to take to social media and reveal how breast cancer has affected them, and why they are determined to make this disease history.

Join Avon’s social media campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by snapping a photo with the #AvonMillionCrusade message, along with your reason for supporting the cause.

Check out the Avon video online and hear just some of the millions of reasons to support Avon’s Breast Cancer Crusade. A variety of Avon Breast Cancer Crusade products are available for purchase online at avon.com.au or through your local Avon Representative.