Tattoo artist and Pontefract and District Breast Cancer Support Group unite to launch empowering fundraising Christmas calendar

The calendar which costs £10 features images of 12 women from across West Yorkshire who have received tattoos by Kate covering their mastectomy scars.

Kate, 43, has been tattooing over breast cancer survivors’ surgical scars for the past few years for free.

After tattooing Rachel Brown, 55, in May, they got together to release a calendar featuring women who have also received tattoos by Kate to raise funds for the group.

Pontefract and District Breast Cancer Support Group has over 300 members, where they meet up once a month and take a yearly trip to Scarborough.

Rachel also often sits on the oncology ward at Pontefract Hospital to support women going through chemotherapy and lends an ear on the phone.

Rachel said: “I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. When I left the ward, they said ‘congratulations, you’ve finished treatment and now carry on with your life’ and I was left not knowing what to do.

"I talked to my husband and decided to set a group up. It is not a twinset of pearls group, it is a coffee morning where we talk about different things not just breast cancer.

"I first met Kate over social media earlier this year.

"I saw that she tattooed women who had mastectomies and decided to reach out. I’m not a tattoo person at all but my confidence has gone through the roof, I couldn’t look at myself before but I love my tattoo now.

"We get on so well, like we’ve known each other years. I’m so proud of the women who participated in the shoot.”

Kate, of Kippax, started tattooing around five years ago and had an immediate interest in tattooing over scars, mostly her own after being wheelchair-bound and having a number of surgeries in her twenties and thirties.

After speaking with a woman who survived breast cancer, Kate decided to offer her skills and tattoo over her mastectomy scars for free.

Since then, she has tattooed 25 women who have survived breast cancer and has a long waiting list – with a woman in Switzerland waiting to be inked by Kate.

Kate added: “During the course of me offering free mastectomy scars tattoos, I met Rachel, the leader of Pontefract and District Breast Cancer Support Group.

"I found a kindred spirit in her. I was amazed by her compassion and her dedication to women in the area who are going through breast cancer.

“I wanted to try and help her any way that I could. We came up with the idea to publish a calendar together to raise money for the group.

"We found 12 ladies who I’ve tattooed previously to volunteer to do the calendar. They bared their scars and their ink, which is just incredible. They were brilliant and the money will all go towards Rachel’s group.”

In 2015, Rachel donated a bell to the chemotherapy ward at Pontefract Hospital so women can ring it once they’ve finished treatment.

To purchase a calendar, visit Kate’s business page https://www.facebook.com/challinorbodyart.

For more information or to get involved with Pontefract and District Breast Cancer Support Group visit the group page https://www.facebook.com/PontefractBreastCancerSupportGroup/ or phone Rachel Brown on 07891908641.