Lend a hand with Katy's Beauty Community.

I announced a couple of weeks ago that I was launching the beauty community, and here it is, my first post!

This month, I'm going to tell you all about the Look Good, Feel Better program.

Basically this program runs nationwide to assist people who are being treated for cancer in looking as good as they possibly can, and in turn feel better about themselves.

I'm going to include some information here that's straight from their website, to explain more about how they work, and what's involved, as well as how we can get involved too.

Look Good…Feel Better is a free community service that helps people undergoing cancer treatment to manage the appearance-related side-effects caused by their treatment.  We do this by providing free workshops for women, men and teens to help manage the appearance-related side effects that may be caused by cancer treatment.

The Australian cosmetic industry founded the Cancer Patients Foundation, a registered charity with tax deductible status, in 1990 as a way to bring the US-based Look Good…Feel Better program to Australia so the industry and the charity could support the many Australians who receive a diagnosis of cancer every year.

Since then our small team has worked with cosmetic industry leaders and volunteers to support women, men and teens all over the country.  In 2012 we reached a significant milestone when we welcomed the 100,000th participant to a Look good…Feel better workshop.

The cosmetic and beauty industries continue to provide significant support for the Cancer Patients Foundation and the Look Good…Feel Better program, including:

• Funding for nearly 1,000 free workshops for cancer patients each year
• More than $3 million worth of skin-care and make-up products needed for the 10,000 Confidence Kits used by workshop participants each year
• Production of free program support materials, such as videos, patient brochures and self-help booklets.

The Look Good…Feel Better program is managed by the Cancer Patients Foundation’s small team of paid employees, with the fantastic support of 1,700 trained and certified cosmetic, beauty and hairdressing professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to help deliver workshops across Australia.

The program is available in every state and territory, and in over 175 workshop locations, including cancer centres, hospital oncology units, Cancer Council regional offices and other community-based venues.

A key feature of the program is its brand/product neutrality: for example, volunteers and program participants are not permitted to promote any cosmetic product line or manufacturer at any time during a workshop.

Workshops are held in most major hospitals and cancer care centres across Australia, as well as in community venues. They are conducted by specially trained and experienced beauty professionals who volunteer their time to help run the program and share their expertise with participants.

Participants (usually between 10 and 15 in a group) learn techniques to manage the appearance-related changes caused by cancer treatment. Demonstrations on the use of wigs, hats, turbans and scarves are also included.

The emphasis is on hands-on learning within a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Each participant receives a take-home instruction booklet and a complimentary Confidence Kit, full of skin-care and make-up products which have been generously donated by the Australian cosmetic industry.

So how can we get involved and help out? There are a few ways. We can donate directly, hold a fundraiser event, or even volunteer for the program if we have relevant beauty industry experience. To contact Look good...Feel better, you can start online at www.lgfb.org.au

In the month of February, I'm going to save every $1 coin that crosses my palm and donate all of it to Look good...Feel better at the end of the month. Every time I'm given a $1 coin in change, or if I find $1 coins in my car, even my "trolley dollar" that I keep for shopping trolleys. I'm going to donate them all (and I'll update this post with a picture of how many I collect at the end). Let me know if you'd like to join me! I won't be taking donations or raising funds from other people, but it's really easy to donate via their website, so we can all do it!