A CANCER awareness roadshow rolled into Bolton – and clocked up its 500,000th visitor.

The Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness bus, staffed by nurses and volunteers, celebrated the incredible milestone when it visited Victoria Square.

Nurse Jessica Turner, from Harwood, was onboard to help to help raise awareness among shoppers about how to reduce the risk of cancer.

She said: “There has been a really, really good response and we’ve been busy since setting up at 10am with many people coming in and showing an interest in the activities and the resources.

“It is interactive and friendly as possible and we hope that approach makes people come forward and feel they can have a chat. This is a comfortable environment where people can tell us about their worries.

"We will see on average over 100 people today, from picking up some information or coming in for a chat.

"It's really all about people coming with worries they've had and helping people become more body aware."

The roadshow was at Victoria Square and Bolton Market last week and residents were able to access tips on healthy lifestyles and get a body mass index (BMI) test to check if they are a healthy weight or a smokerlyzer test to check the carbon monoxide levels in their body.

They could also chat with a nurse and get information on how to reduce the risk of cancer.

Mrs Turner, a former Turton High School pupil, said that the roadshow had also referred some Bolton visitors on to a GP after symptoms were identified.

She added: “It allows us to get important information out to people as they go about their busy lives - we are literally on the road to beating cancer!

"The nice thing is people can hop on and we've been quite successful with men. We usually find men are less likely to visit a health service but they have come to us."

Since launching in 2006, the Roadshow has been run in partnership with the Marie Keating Foundation and has visited over 200 cities and towns.

Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Cliff Morris, attended the roadshow to help mark the 500,000th visitor milestone.

He said: “It’s been fascinating to visit the nurses and volunteers. The North West roadshow is a great way of getting information and advice out to people in the community so they can access support while they are doing their shopping or heading to work.

“We look forward to working closely with Cancer Research UK to beat cancer sooner in Bolton, by putting a greater emphasis on cancer awareness and prevention.”

Bolton News reporter Rosalind Saul took the Cancer Roadshow health test, here is what she found out:

It’s hard to ignore the interesting statistic that more than four in ten cancers can be prevented, largely through lifestyle changes.

So I wanted to see how I was doing with the advice of the people-in-the-know.

I stepped aboard the bus to undergo a BMI test.

While this may sound rather intrusive, all that was needed was a measurement of my height, waist and weight (the later not so easy when there’s a camera pointing at you!)

Forgive me for not sharing each result – a lady never tells! – but the outcome proved I fitted in a pleasingly ‘healthy’ BMI, falling between 18.5 to 25 BMI.

There was also the dreaded smokerlyzer test to try, which involves holding your breath for a number of seconds before blowing as hard as you can into a devise which measure the amount of carbon monoxide in your breath.

Carbon monoxide (CO), which can be found in cigarettes and chewing tobacco, can be an indicator of the possible toxic substances from cigarette smoke in your body.

Results show the level of CO in parts per million of breath.

As a non-smoker I registered at the lower end at 2ppm, with the CO in my lungs picked up from car emissions and other causes, while smokers are likely to start registering at 7ppm right up to 90ppm, the dangerously addicted lever.

Under the calming guidance of nurse Jessica Turner the whole experience was pretty much a walk in the park!

Which is one thing she advised me to do more of, as the roadshow also talks you through getting smoke free, drinking less alcohol, being active and being SunSmart can all help to lower the risk of cancer.

To find out more visit www.cancerawarenessroadshow.org.uk