Positive Body Image Campaigner Leyah Shanks Wants You to Join Her in the Fight Against Cancer

We introduced you to positive body image campaigner Leyah Shanks a year ago when she created Body Confidence Weekend as a way to share positive body image thoughts and inspiration.

Leyah runs the blog The Body Confidence Revolution and is very passionate about reaching all women and inspiring them to love themselves as they are. Since the blog’s launch three years ago, Leyah has now become a writer for many publications including PLUS Model Magazine, where she talks about body confidence to our readers.

She has used her voice to empower and inspire others, including supporting charities and important causes. One cause that Leyah is now tackling is supporting cancer research.

In January, she took part in Cancer Research UK’s Dryathlon, which asks those wanting to get involved to give up alcohol for a month and raise money for cancer research. The link between alcohol and cancer is explained on their website:

“Research has clearly shown that alcohol increases the risk of cancer. While that doesn’t mean everyone who drinks will develop cancer, on the whole cancer is more common in regular alcohol drinkers.”

Leyah is now taking it a step further. She is now launched a campaign to raise even more money for cancer research. Her goal is to raise £500 (about $762 in US dollars) for the charity. She has vowed that when she reaches her goal, she will shave her head. She says:

“It saddens me deeply that when someone is hit with the news that they have cancer, they have to worry about losing their hair, because of how it looks. So, through shaving my own hair off (whilst not being ill) I hope to make a couple of points; 1. Having an illness like cancer doesn’t define you as a person. 2. Hair or no hair, you’re gorgeous. 3. Therefore, being bald is nothing to be ashamed of.”

If you’re in the UK, you can donate via text by texting IALS99 and an amount of either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070. For everyone else in the world, you can donate via Leyah‘s Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/iamleyahshanks.

100% of all donations will go to Cancer Research UK.

To learn more about Leyah:

Visit her blog here.

Check out The Body Confidence Revolution website here.

Follow her on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leyahshanksbcr

Twitter: @IAMLEYAHSHANKS

Instagram: iamleyahshanks