News & Stories
Autumn 2024 Participant Newsletter
Dawn and Michael look back on the launch of the study
Dawn and Michael have been working on the Generations Study since the beginning. Here they reflect on the launch of the study in honour of its 20 year anniversary.
Dawn: I was here at the launch of the study 20 years ago. I’d been brought in to oversee the team that was going to manage the recruitment and communications with participants.
Michael: I remember the launch well. We were unsure about how many women were going to join the study at the start. We had been running a pilot study to get our documents and procedures right, but this was only with a relatively small number of women.
Dawn: Breakthrough (now known as Breast Cancer Now) did an exceptionally good job with publicity for the launch. We featured on the BBC website, in national newspapers, and Prince Charles (now His Majesty the King) supported the study in an article in the Sunday Express. We became famous overnight.
Michael: On one hand we were afraid that not enough women would be interested, and on the other, we were worried about being swamped with requests.
Dawn: Yes, it was all quite daunting not knowing what to expect but we didn’t have to worry as we had a huge response. On launch day, we had over 9,000 women signing up on our website, and 6,000 women leaving voicemail messages. It was a case of ‘all hands on deck’ to deal with this during the first few weeks.
Michael: A few months after the launch it became less frantic. Dawn’s mailing operation was a smooth piece of work.
Dawn: The logistics were often challenging, as each week we were posting thousands of invitations to women, logging their replies, and sending out questionnaires and blood packs. We got to know the Royal Mail very well as we filled the collection vans with sacks full of post each day and received sacks full of responses.
Michael: We were very excited when we recruited the first 1,000 participants, and we had a small celebration. We did that at 5,000 recruits as well, and by 10,000 we knew we could reach our target.
Dawn: It was challenging work, but all extremely exciting and a deep sense of achievement as we hit new targets and celebrated each with a cheeky tipple. Over the years, I have had a wonderful team working with me with great camaraderie and unwavering support. We’ve all felt it was a worthwhile cause and 20 years on, we are proud of our achievements. None of this would have been possible without the support from Breast Cancer Now and the dedication and motivation of you, the participants in the study.
Michael: Thank you for your valued contributions to our research and your ongoing support and participation, we are extremely grateful for your time and commitment.