Video: Burnley folk spread the message of how vital early detection of cancer can be

Keen to promiote the catchphrase, Dancer for Cancer, several have posted videos of themselves dancing on social media.

They can choose any dance style they want and add a donate button if they wish to raise cash for different cancer charities along with adding #dancerforcancer

Dancer for Cancer is the phrase that Pastor Mick Fleming came up with as he discussed cancer, and how vital early detection is, with his partner, Sarah Oxborough.

The couple have been engaged for three years and Sarah herself was recently diagnosed with the disease and is awaiting treatment.

As the couple discussed the effects cancer has on people's lives and families and ways in which awareness can be raised they started to come up with different names for it.

Mick said: "We played around with it a bit and came up with the idea of cancer as a tap dancer which then led to Dancer for Cancer."

They then hit on the idea of idea of asking people to ' Be A Dancer for Cancer'. Sarah kicked off the initiative with her video and many people have performed theirs in the popular Tik Tok style.

Several followers of Mick's Church on the Street Ministry got on board and now dozens more across the UK, and even in America, have followed suit to become Dancers for Cancer.

Mick said: "We never expected it to take off like it has. We wanted people to have a laugh and a bit of fun but also one of the great things to come out of this is that a number of people fighting cancer have got in touch with me to talk about what they are going through."

Along with his Church on the Street Ministry, known as COTS, Mick runs the social media page Burnley Against Poverty which helps to feed, clothe and support the homeless and vulnerable in the town.

And the project has come into its own since the pandemic struck as Mick, working with a host of volunteers in partnership with the Rev Alex Frost at St Matthew's Church, has been delivering food parcels to hundreds of people across the borough.