A training firm boss who beat cancer twice has showed off her bare-faced beauty to boost the battle against the disease.
Ann Farr, who is Centre Manager of Smartcare, the Wrexham-based training arm of the Pendine Park Care Organisation, has just joined the thousands of women across the UK who have been taking the social media world by storm by posting make-up free selfie pictures in aid of cancer research.
Among those who have stripped themselves of the slap to pose to get in front of the lens are stars such as Welsh opera diva Katherine Jenkins, Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh and pop star and TV personality Michelle Heaton.
But 54-year-old Ann, who lives in Shotton in Flintshire, has more reason than most to want to use the selfie as a way of highlight the marvellous work of the organisations financing research into the disease, because she went through the pain of cancer diagnosis and treatment twice when she was younger.
She’s now challenging more people to get involved in the growing selfie craze – and that’s men as well as women.
Ann, who has worked in the care field for 32 years and has been manager of Smartcare for the past 12 months, said: “I was diagnosed after the birth of my youngest son Thomas who is now 26 and if I has not gone for that it wouldn’t have been detected.
“Women need to ensure they go for their smear tests as five minutes of discomfort could save their life as it did mine!
“The no make-up selfie thing just seemed to come from nowhere and within days was all over Facebook and Twitter.
“It’s basically a development of the social media drinking game Neknominate but much more beneficial and useful in that people are challenged to take a selfie picture without any make-up on and then post it online, also making a small donation to one of the cancer charities.
“It quickly went viral and within just a few days one of the big cancer charities said they’d raised over £1 million from it. I think they’ve been pretty gobsmacked by how many people have done it so far.
“I was nominated by one of my friends on Facebook and although I hesitated a bit at first I decided to go for it.
“It obviously goes against the grain for ladies to appear without any make-up but I did it in the end.”
Ann, who is also a dementia awareness Purple Angel for the Pendine Park organisation, is a key part of the pioneering work done by Smartcare and believes passionately in the importance of training.
She said: “There is a huge emphasis on training at Pendine Park because we believe that having well trained staff leads to higher quality care.
“I really wanted to do the no make-up selfie because I’ve been through cancer twice. The first time was when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer when I was 29 years old.
“I underwent chemotherapy and then, when I was 32, I was told by doctors that I had developed a tumour on one of my ovaries. I had chemo again and also had to have my ovaries removed.
“You’re told that if you remain cancer free for five years there’s a good chance you will be alright. It’s now 22 years for me and thankfully I’m still fine.
“I sent off my donation to Cancer Research UK and I hope others will do the same.”
Ann said that as a gesture of support all 16 of her colleagues at Smartcare had also done selfies – 15 of them are girls who appear without their make-up and one of them is a man, Chris Hodge, who has followed the new trend for guys to take selfies actually wearing slap.
She explained: “I think it’s great that all my team have entered into the spirit of it, even Chris who looks lovely in his make-up.
“Of course, there’s no reason why men shouldn’t get involved because it’s not just women who are at risk from cancer.
“In fact, I’d like to send out a challenge to men to have selfies taken in make-up, and if they can’t pluck up the courage to do it at least they could put their hands in their pockets and send a donation to one of the cancer charities.”
Ann’s colleague Chris Hodge, 28, who lives in Johnstown, Wrexham, and has been an Essential Skills Tutor with Smartcare for the past 16 months, said: “I was nominated to do a selfie and didn’t really hesitate because I know it’s in such a good cause.
“I’ve definitely never put on make-up before, so my partner Aideen McGailey, who is 27, did it for me. She had a lot of laughs while she was doing it but I didn’t!
“But each year cancer kills lots of people in the UK and worldwide and anything you can do the raise awareness of it is worthwhile.”
For more information on the no make-up selfies go to https://www.facebook.com/cancerresearchuk
