About

Our WorK

Reach for Recovery’s national and regional teams work tirelessly to support all women and men diagnosed with breast cancer.

Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients

“A hand of support and a voice of hope”

About

Our WorK

“A hand of support and a voice of hope”

Reach for Recovery’s national and regional teams work tirelessly to support all women diagnosed with breast cancer.

UNIQUE PEER SUPPORT

What makes RFR unique is that we offer breast cancer patients peer support from women who have survived breast cancer and undergone the entire journey from ill health, finding a lump or abnormality, through to diagnosis, caregiving options, and back to full health, and everything in between.

We offer our support in numerous ways, from distributing pamphlets, to hosting countrywide educational and awareness-raising events. 

Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients

Online Training

For the past three years during May, Reach for Recovery has offered online training to new volunteers interested in making a difference in the lives of South Africans battling breast cancer – the world’s most prevalent cancer.

We welcome both:

  • breast cancer survivors, who are 12 months post treatment as peer-to-peer support volunteers to counsel and support newly diagnosed patients.
  • kind and generous folk who would like to assist us with fundraising, awareness, and administration. Please note that for these latter positions, you do not need to be a survivor.

Join a nationwide community representing South Africa’s unique, volunteer-based breast cancer support organisation. Experience the gift of giving back to society and making amazing friends for life!

Our Services

Who better to support a breast cancer patient than a breast cancer survivor?

No one understands the self-esteem issues, and financial and family challenges that breast cancer patients face unless they have walked a mile in their shoes.

Our members understand your journey all too well!

Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients
“A joyous brigade”
Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients

Practical Support

Volunteers visit patients in hospital, either before or after the operation. Practical support is provided at this time and if necessary, at any later stage. 
  • Patients are supplied with a comprehensive booklet dealing with various topics relevant to breast cancer patients. 
  • They receive a soft prosthesis (temporary breast form), a cushion for under arm comfort and a bag to contain the port-au-vac drain. 
  • Volunteers can also provide information on types of permanent prostheses, as well as lists of where those items are available within a patient’s community. No products are endorsed.
  • Permanent prostheses (silicone) are offered to non-medical aid patients where funds permit via the DITTO Project.
Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients
Our brigade of peer support volunteers, all of them survivors, are here to extend a helping hand, to visit women scheduled for, or recovering from mastectomies at state and private hospitals. They hand out information booklets, care packages, and offer a hand of support and a voice of hope. 
  • They also present breast health talks and showcase our services in communities by attending and speaking at sport events, in clinics and hospitals,and at libraries, schools and in homes.
  • At local and regional branch level, volunteers also do administrative work and actively fundraise for the organisation. Each branch of Reach for Recovery is responsible for primary operational costs, with some support from our national office.
Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients

High-quality silicone prosthesis

We provide high-quality silicone prostheses to women in low income communities for a small, nominal stipend. We do fittings at various regional offices and clinics across South Africa.

Please note that only women in state care (with a valid hospital registration card) are eligible for DITTO prosthesis. We provide high-quality silicone prostheses to women in marginalised communities who do not have medical aid. We do fittings at various regional offices and clinics across South Africa.

A valid state hospital registration card is required to apply, and a voluntary donation is greatly appreciated

Can other women access silicone prostheses from us, even if they have to pay?

No, unfortunately not. Our Ditto Project only provides support to state patients who can present us with a hospital card.  We can refer patients to various suppliers and stockists of silicone prostheses. Please contact your nearest Reach for Recovery Group for more information

Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients

Ditto Project

Cancer is hard. 

The diagnosis, the treatment, the recovery. And with breast cancer, patients often experience the loss of a breast, or both. It’s a very personal wound that often changes a woman’s perception of her femininity, self-worth and sense of belonging.

Yet, many breast cancer patients in South Africa cannot even afford a bra, let alone a breast prosthesis or reconstructive surgery to restore their sense of dignity after a mastectomy.

Reach for Recovery aims to help women from very low-income groups to feel confident again after invasive surgery through our landmark DITTO project, largely funded by the South African Mushroom Farmers’ Association (SAMFA).

Practical and emotional support to breast cancer patients

Need to locate a DITTO fitting centre? Please contact our National Manager at nationalmanager@reach4recovery.org.za

Want to know more about the practicalities of silicone prosthesis? READ.