Clear information and support from someone who understands can make the first steps after a breast cancer diagnosis feel more manageable.
Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition, or BCAC, is run by volunteers who have experienced breast cancer themselves. They use what they have learned to support, inform and represent the 3,700 New Zealanders diagnosed with breast cancer each year, along with their whānau.
One of the most practical ways BCAC helps is through its free Step by Step support pack. Around 1,500 packs are distributed each year to people who have recently been diagnosed. Each contains clear information and tools to help someone understand their diagnosis, prepare for appointments and navigate treatment and recovery.
Recipients describe the pack as a calm and useful starting point. One said the diary helped them organise appointments, questions and notes at a time when it was easy to feel overwhelmed by information.
Another described it as “clear, informative, caring and practical”, saying: “I felt like I was being welcomed into a network, family and sisterhood, which was very comforting.”
A donation of $80 can help BCAC provide one Step by Step pack, letting another person know that they are not alone and that there is support to help them find their way through what comes next.
People giving through The Good Registry have contributed about $31,000 to BCAC’s work - so that’s almost 390 breast cancer patients supported, along with their families. That's a gift with real meaning 💜
The support continues beyond the pack. BCAC helps people understand their individual diagnosis and treatment, maintains the evidence-based breastcancer.org.nz website, shares information through its newsletter and Facebook communities, and runs a private peer-support group for people living with metastatic breast cancer.
BCAC also represents patients wherever decisions affecting them are made. Its volunteers work with clinicians, medicine suppliers and government organisations to advocate for better access to breast cancer medicines and ensure patient voices are heard.
Over the past year, BCAC has worked with Pharmac’s leadership and staff during its reset programme, supporting efforts to make the organisation more patient-focused, collaborative, transparent and timely. BCAC hopes this will contribute to better access to medicines, less financial and psychological pressure for people and their whānau, and greater equity.
For its volunteers, knowing that people have personally chosen BCAC through The Good Registry is meaningful. “It’s moving to know that people understand and support what we are trying to do,” says BCAC Treasurer Louise Malone. “It means our efforts are appreciated and valued, and that we are on the right track.”
Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition is one of 65 Kiwi charities available through The Good Registry. When you redeem a Good Gift Card, you can give its full value to one charity or share it among several causes that matter to you.
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