Chamber member Fifty2M, the Preston-based PR and marketing agency, is working with national charity Cancer Support UK on a campaign to raise awareness of the people and business impacts that cancer has in the workplace, and is inviting B Corps to become a C Corp for a day this September to help spread the word.
Timed to coincide with the first of the two-day ‘Louder Than Words’ B Corp festival in Oxford, the campaign aims to leverage the collective social media reach of Certified B Corps from across Lancashire and the UK in a bid to increase awareness about the challenges faced by employees living with and beyond cancer in the workplace, the potential impacts on business performance and profits, and the need for managers and workers to be taught how to talk about cancer more openly, supportively, and with greater empathy.
B Corp businesses are being asked to share pre-prepared graphics, videos, captions, and links to their social media audiences at intervals on Tuesday 10th September to help get the charity’s important messages to a wider audience.
Fifty2M founder, Lee Petts, explains the rationale behind the initiative: “Certified B Corps are known for using business as a force for good. Our campaign is all about tapping into that ethos by bringing the B Corp community together as one, and using its shared voice to help raise awareness of the issues that cancer in the workplace presents.
“Cancer is really pervasive, with a new case diagnosed roughly every 90 seconds, and an estimated 890,000 people of working age already living with and beyond the disease. It’s so prevalent that most businesses are going to find an employee with cancer in their midst at some point, but the chances are they won’t be at all prepared to deal with it supportively and effectively.
“It’s a real and pressing issue for all concerned. Employees can be reluctant to share a cancer diagnosis in the first place, fearing the reaction they might get from their employer and their colleagues. It can lead to costly, morale-sapping and productivity-wrecking presenteeism and absenteeism, and add unnecessary stress to people already reeling from the physical and emotional impacts of their cancer diagnosis and treatment.
“Much of it stems from the fact that many of us feel uncomfortable talking about it. We don’t know what to say, as managers or colleagues, when someone tells us they have cancer, so we try to avoid such conversations, but that’s bad for everyone and for our businesses.
“Since our work with Cancer Support UK began almost a year ago, I’ve learned a lot about the people and organisational impacts cancer is responsible for, and have even been through their training to become a Workplace Cancer Support Ambassador.
“It’s obvious that it’s a massive blindspot for businesses, and that’s what the planned ‘social media takeover’ is intended to change with the help of B Corps everywhere.”
Fifty2M is particularly eager to see Lancashire’s B Corp businesses getting involved, and there are plenty of them including Sustainable Energy First, Recycling Lives, and Brabners.
Those that want to become a C Corp for the day, and join in the social media takeover, can learn more and sign up here https://www.fifty2m.com/become-c-corp-for-a-day/
Fifty2M is a long-time and active Chamber member, and a Finalist in the Digital and Marketing Business of the Year Award in this year’s BIBAs, the Be Inspired Business Awards.
