Thank you, Llywydd. On 5 June, I was devastated to hear the news of the death of my friend and colleague Sam Gould. When Sam was diagnosed with bowel cancer, his reaction was to do what he knew best: to campaign. Through his videos and social media campaign, Sam raised awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer. His videos have been viewed by over 100,000 people, and comments and messages that we’ve received suggest that many people have found comfort from them, and the strength to go to their GP with their symptoms.

Today, I am proud to join Bowel Cancer UK’s Never Too Young campaign, of which Sam was a supporter. The campaign is focusing on young people and raising awareness that you’re never too young to get bowel cancer. Sam Gould was 33 years old. In Wales each year, 2,335 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer, and nearly 1,000 people die from it, making it the second biggest cancer killer. Unfortunately, younger people often have a worse experience of being diagnosed, treated and cared for than older people. Young people also tend to have poorer outcomes: 60 per cent are diagnosed at the later stages of the disease, and 34 per cent are diagnosed in emergency care, when the chance of survival is much lower. If diagnosed at the early stage of the disease, nearly everyone survives. This drops to around 7 per cent if diagnosed at the later stage. I hope all Members will join with me to help raise awareness for the Never Too Young campaign.