BCAM26: Join the #GetChecked Challenge and share your #UnsureStories

This May, during Bladder Cancer Awareness Month, the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition (WBCPC) is inviting people around the world to take part in two new initiatives that support one simple but important message:

Feeling unsure? Get checked.

Bladder cancer symptoms, especially blood in the urine, are too often ignored, misinterpreted, or dismissed. Many people delay speaking to a healthcare professional because they feel unsure, embarrassed, or assume it is something less serious.

That delay matters.

This final year of our three-year global awareness campaign focuses on helping people act sooner and encouraging open conversations around symptoms, early diagnosis, and bladder cancer awareness.

To help make that happen, we are launching two new social media initiatives: #GetChecked Challenge and #UnsureStories.

Join the #GetChecked Challenge

The #GetChecked Challenge is a simple way to spread awareness through your own voice.

Participants are invited to complete the sentence:

“If you’re feeling unsure… ______.”

Your answer can be short, personal, and direct.

For example:

“If you’re feeling unsure… speak to your doctor.”
“If you’re feeling unsure… don’t ignore blood in your urine.”
“If you’re feeling unsure… trust yourself and get checked.”

You can either post your message directly on social media as a text post, selfie, short video, or story, or visit our Padlet page to choose one of the campaign visuals and share it with your completed sentence.

Our Padlet page includes ready-to-use social media visuals, templates, posters, and suggested captions to make joining the campaign quick and easy.

How to take part:

1. Complete the sentence: “If you’re feeling unsure…”
2. Post it directly on social media or select a visual from our Padlet page and share it online
3. Tag @WorldBladderCancer
4. Tag two friends, organisations, or colleagues to continue the chain
5. Use the hashtags #GetChecked and #UnsureStories

This helps the message spread from person to person and encourages more people to seek medical advice earlier .

Share your #UnsureStories

The second new initiative, #UnsureStories, focuses on the real moments of hesitation people experience before diagnosis.

These are the thoughts many people have before deciding to seek help:

“I thought it was just a UTI.”
“I didn’t know blood in my urine could mean bladder cancer.”
“I thought bladder cancer was rare.”
“I wish I had gone sooner.”

These moments of uncertainty are common, and sharing them can help others recognise the signs earlier.

How to take part:

Share one short sentence about a moment when you felt unsure about a symptom and either acted or wish you had acted sooner.

You can post your story directly as a text post, short video, or photo, or go to our Padlet page, choose one of the campaign visuals, and add your message before sharing it online.

Stories can be:

• your own experience
• shared with permission on behalf of someone else
• from a patient, carer, or healthcare professional

Post your message during May, tag @WorldBladderCancer, and use #UnsureStories and #GetChecked so we can help share it across our channels.

Sometimes one honest sentence is enough to help someone else recognise themselves and take action sooner .

One message can make a difference

A short sentence. A shared story. A simple post.

That is how conversations start, and how earlier diagnosis becomes possible.

This May, join the #GetChecked Challenge, share your #UnsureStories, and help more people understand that when something feels different, they should not wait.

Feeling unsure? Get checked.