A TEAM of women dressed head to toe in pink yesterday for a fun day with a serious message.

The women, including genetic nurses, cancer specialists and support staff, launched the start of Get In The Pink as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Led by charity Cancer Research UK, it features a raft of pink-themed fundraising drives across the region throughout October.

This includes dressing in pink, dyeing hair pink and holding pink parties to raise cash for the charity's pioneering research into breast cancer.

Lynn Mann, of the Clinical Cancer Genetics Network, was one of those posing in pink. "We are helping to promote Get In The Pink for Cancer Research UK because breast cancer has such a major impact on so many women's lives," she said.

"We want to encourage people to have fun and think pink during October."

The charity has also organised a series of sponsored walks - the Stride for Life. The first in the region takes place in the Tyne Riverside Country Park, Newburn, Newcastle, on Sunday, October 13.

Breast cancer is the most common form of the disease in women and affects one in nine at some point in their lives.