IT'S NOT often that kids are encouraged to be loud, but in this case it could be a matter of life or death.

Blackpool Victoria Hospital staff are asking Fylde Coast youngsters to design a neck tie in a competition to raise awareness about bowel cancer.

For a 50p entry fee, school children can design the brightest and loudest tie possible. The two winning designs will be made into silk ties.

The Proud to be Loud tie competition is part of national charity Beating Bowel Cancer's annual fund and awareness raising campaign (January 26-30). Locally, the competition is being organised by the Blackpool Victoria Hospital's colorectal nursing team.

Mr Srinivasan Ravi, consultant surgeon at Blackpool Victoria Hospital who will judge the competition, said: "Food habits have a major role in bowel cancer. Making children aware of how to eat healthily from an early age will lead on to adults with good eating habits and go a long way to help preventing bowel cancer."

A spokesman for the competition added: "There is a serious message behind the charity's light-hearted fund-raising initiative. Bowel cancer claims the lives of over 16,000 men and women in the UK each year.

"It is estimated that around 90 per cent of cases could be treated successfully if caught at an early stage but many people are often embarrassed to discuss their symptoms and delay seeking medical advice.

"Beating Bowel Cancer not only wants the loud tie campaign to raise much needed funds but also to raise awareness of the disease and encourage people to talk out loud about bowel cancer."

For a one pound donation secondary school pupils can also wear the loudest tie in their wardrobes on January 30.

Loud tie templates can be downloaded from http://www.beatingbowelcancer.org/loud_tie/download/tie_template.pdf or telephone 020 8892 5256. Completed entries should be sent to The Colorectal Nursing Team, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Whinney Heys Road, Blackpool, FY3 8NR.