Summer is here

It’s hard not to love summer and coming home after work to plenty more daylight. We can really enjoy spending time with our children outside at the end of the day.

Of course the other side of summer is that we must be mindful of the sun and its harsh UV rays. Sunscreen and hats are things we tend to forget about in the winter months when it is raining, cold and miserable, but from September onwards we must remember to carry these with us at all times.  

It’s important to remember that the UV gets through even on cloudy days. As well, wearing a hat and sunsmart clothing doesn’t mean you don’t need sunscreen on your face and neck – reflected light from the ground can still cause bad sunburn.

Of course young children are very prone to getting burnt, even if out in the open for a short time, and the sad reality is that even one bad bout of sunburn has the potential to cause cancer later in life. As adults we must act as role models and ensure we are always sunsmart ourselves and promote the importance of our children being sunsmart too.

To remind yourself of the current guidelines for sun protection – slip, slop, slap, seek and slide – visit http://www.cancervic.org.au/preventing-cancer/be-sunsmart, where you can also find a link to the Cancer Council’s clever Sunsmart app that will tell you what times of the day require sun protection.

The Client Services Team