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The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade
began in 1992 with one aim -
to make a difference...

To take a look at the Crusade in more detail simply scroll down the history below.

1992 Moved by the scale and impact that breast cancer has on women’s lives, the whole ‘Avon family’ is united to go ‘Avon Calling for Breakthrough’ raising the first £1million.
1993 Breakthrough’s crocus symbol ‘goes gold’ to raise another £800,000 for Breakthrough. Avon sponsors Breakthrough’s Women’s Challenge - Avon staff and Representatives take part
1994 Emphasis switches to awareness, reaching millions of people at county shows through the summer. Avon increases the scope of the Crusade to include raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Relief.
1995 More pins, more fundraising. The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade is adopted by Avon US, and subsequently by many other countries.
1996 Fundraising during the fifth year of the Crusade comes in at an astonishing £1.2million. The gene BRCA2, vital in understanding hereditary breast cancer, is isolated by Breakthrough scientists, thanks to state-of-the art equipment provided with funding from Avon.
1997 Work begins on the Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre, and 15 Avon Macmillan Breast Nurses are working at hospitals all over the UK. A national writing competition brings in hundreds of entries from women willing to tell the story of their breast cancer journey, helping raise awareness of the positive aspects of beating breast cancer.
1998 Scientists start work at the new Breakthrough Research Centre, earlier than expected and a ceremony unveils a plaque recognising Avon’s support. Individuals and departments who have met Breakthrough’s £1,000 Challenge are named on the Founding Challengers Wall.
1999 Putting the fun into fundraising, Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer launches. Many leading magazines donate space to advertise the campaign as a sign of their endorsement.
The official opening of the Breakthrough Research Centre - a third of the funding came from Avon. Top Crusade Representative, Sonia Bee attends, and manages to give a ‘kiss’ to Prince Charles - a fundraising kiss pin, of course!
2000 Avon’s Breast Cancer Crusade receives the Business in the Community Cause Related Marketing Award for Excellence. Fundraising reaches nearly £1 million and Avon tells three million women ‘you’re special’ with a purse-sized calendar promoting the benefits of better breast awareness.
2001 Staff start the kissing for the second KISS campaign setting the pace for a new Guinness World Record for the biggest collection of Kiss Prints. Almost 40,000 kisses are collected and used to highlight the importance of breast cancer prevention to the government.
2002 Marking 10 years with a special fundraising push to raise another £1million, Avon promises to keep supporting the fight against breast cancer until our help is no longer needed. Fundraising exceeds the target coming in at an astonishing £1.6million, representing a third of the annual funding required to support the 85 scientists now working at the Breakthrough Research Centre.
Globally, fundraising reaches $250million raised through activities in 47 countries and supporting local needs.
2003

Avon’s fundraising continued in the UK with the development of the first ever fragrance ‘Pink Suede’ dedicated to raising money to help kiss goodbye to breast cancer. £1 per bottle sold, for the life of the product, was donated to Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Other fundraising products took Avon’s total UK fundraising smashing past £10 million.
2004 As well as fundraising, Avon concentrated on spreading the awareness message with the support of Tamzin Outhwaite, face of Avon Colour. Using the theme of friendship, Avon encouraged women to talk more openly to each other about breast awareness. To support this, the October edition of Marie Claire invited readers to participate in the Body Truths survey, the results of which can be found on the Media Info section of this website. The October edition of Red magazine saw the launch of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade Spirit of Friendship Awards which celebrated the strong bonds between women. The winners and their powerful stories were featured in the January issue of Red. Globally, fundraising reaches $350million raised through activities in 50 countries and supporting local needs.
2005

To mark the 50th anniversary of the charitable global Avon Foundation, an awards scheme was organised to recognise individuals who showed dedication and selfless support to those with breast cancer and related charities. The Celebrating Life Awards coincided with a global Avon initiative called Walk Around The World for Breast Cancer (WATW) linking many countries in this common cause. The UK welcomed a breast cancer survivor from Hungary who exchanged a symbolic Global Connection Ribbon with a local survivor during a ceremony at the House of Lords.
2006 Sales of exclusive Crusade products through the Avon brochure raised £750,000, bringing the total since 1992 to over £13 million. This year’s global Walk Around The World event sees the UK twinned with Czech Republic for the exchange of the Global Connection Ribbon. The handover ceremony took place during a tour of the Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre in London, which was also an opportunity for Avon Representatives and staff to be recognised for their fundraising efforts.

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• Fashion Targets Breast Cancer®UK is licensed by the Council of Fashion Designers of America / CFDA Foundation, Inc., USA.