BUSINESSES across the town are getting in the pink in aid of Breast Cancer Action Month.

On October 16, the Swindon Advertiser will be running a supplement to help raise awareness of breast cancer. We will also be donating 1p from every Adver sold on the day to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

On Friday, Royal Wootton Bassett town centre turned pink with the help of a new business association.

Businesses decorated their windows in pink, dressing up in pink clothes, wigs and feather boas, while selling pink cakes and holding raffles, games and competitions to help raise funds for breast cancer research.

The Royal Wootton Bassett Business Association, which formed in August with the aim of working together to promote business in the town, organised the event after working with Cancer Research UK.

One of the group’s founders, Dandelion gift shop proprietor Hazel Newson, said: “The aim of our association is simple: we think Royal Wootton Bassett is a great place for business and we believe we can get that message across more effectively if we work as one group.

“Town centre-focused events such as Turning the Town Pink are a fabulous opportunity to show just what can be achieved when we all work together.”

Fundraising events are set to continue throughout Swindon this month with a Wear it Pink Night organised by Rotary Club of Swindon Phoenix, to raise funds for the breast screening unit in Swindon's Great Western Hospital.

The event at the Blunsdon House Hotel will include a two-course meal, a singing group and a quiz on Wednesday, October 31. Tickets are priced at £18 per person, which includes the cost of the meal. All money raised will go to the Breast Cancer Unit at the Great Western Hospital.

And a health, beauty and wellbeing day will be held at the Drove Peoples Campus in Southampton Street on October 13, with proceeds from door entry, refreshments and a raffle going in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

In our supplement, we will also be including a special tribute page to those who have sadly lost their lives to breast cancer.

Families who wish to remember their relatives in this way can submit a photograph of their loved one to mtompkins@swindonadvertiser.co.uk along with a few words and, in return, they will be asked to make a small donation to Breakthrough Breast Cancer through the Swindon Advertiser Just Giving page.

Photographs can also be sent to Michelle Tompkins, Newspaper House, 100 Victoria Road, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 3BE.

To make a donation through our Just Giving page, visit www.justgiving.com/SwindonAdvertiser-breastcancer