Public offered free suncream during hot weather

Businesses and a local authority have been praised for offering members of the public free suncream as Britain basks in a heatwave.

A Sheffield city centre pub is offering beer garden drinkers suncream with their pints, while Bassetlaw District Council has introduced dispensers in public places.

Research by the charity Melanoma Focus found 54% of Sheffield residents suffered from sunburn at least once a year, while 39% rarely or never applied sunscreen when in the UK during the summer months.

Charlotte Killeya, who has stage four skin cancer, is backing initiatives offering free suncream, saying it should be available “like hand sanitiser”.

The Head of Steam pub in Sheffield’s Tudor Square started offering free suncream and drinks of water during the coronavirus pandemic when it was limited to table service.

General manager James Shaw told the BBC: “You’re outside in this beer garden, you get a lot of sun a lot of the time and so [as a business] you need to have that more awareness and social responsibility.”

He said business was “all about customer retention nowadays and dwell time, how long can that customer stay in your venue”.

The free suncream has been popular with drinkers.

Customer Graeme Hunt, 31, said: “It’s brilliant, the fact that I was able to sit out here in the sun and not escape into the shade.

“It is something that I never remember, it’s never in my bag.”

Charlotte Killeya, from Sheffield, was diagnosed with melanoma in 2020 and has campaigned to ensure children are aware of the risks of sun damage.

She has also called on the government to remove VAT on suncream and believes it should be available in public spaces.

Ms Killeya wants people to enjoy the summer weather but said: “Please be careful, please put your suncream on, your sunglasses, your hats.

“Please, please don’t end up like me, who sometimes forgot to put suncream on, didn’t put suncream on, missed a bit.”

Bassetlaw District Council has introduced free suncream stations at four public places including Langold Country Park between Worksop and Rotherham.

Councillor Lynne Schuller said the suncream dispensers were constantly having to be refilled.

She said: “We do have positive feedback from parents that say, ‘thank God that there was a suncream dispenser on site as I’d forgotten my sunblock’.”

Skin cancer rates are even higher in the Netherlands than in the UK and there has been a big push to introduce free suncream dispensers at hospitals, beaches and schools in the country.

Dermatologist Dr Karen van Poppelen, from VieCuri Medisch Centrum, led a programme to introduce suncream dispensers and education for children in the Limburg region.

Dr van Poppelen said it was all about behavioural change,.

She said: “By making it (suncream) available for the kids, they can take it whenever they need it plus the education, we hope it will be normal to use sunscreen and normal to protect your skin.

“Hopefully in a few years we can see that the skin cancer amounts are going to be decreasing.”

The Department of Health and Social Care said suncream was available on the NHS for people with certain conditions, such as photodermatoses, a group of skin conditions associated with an abnormal reaction to UV radiation.

A spokesperson said: “High-factor sunscreen is on the NHS prescription list for certain conditions and is already provided VAT-free when dispensed by a pharmacist to these patients.

“Too many cancer patients, including those with skin cancer, are waiting too long for treatment, and we are determined to change that as we shift the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention.

“Through our National Cancer Plan, we will look to improve all aspects of cancer care, reducing the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years.”