As Breast Cancer Awareness month draws to a close – and today being Wear It Pink day, organised by the Breast Cancer Campaign charity - nonstopmama is spotlighting some fantastic charities dedicated to researching a cure, treating and caring for those affected by the disease – and all forms of cancer – all year round.

Renowned for its mission to increase awareness of breast cancer – and the message that disease is 98% curable if detected early – Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign in the UK and Ireland champions ongoing research for a cure by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) and Cancer Clinical Research Trust in Ireland. Check out both sites to find out about the vital work both charities are involved with. Look out, too, for limited edition ‘pink ribbon’ treats still on beauty counters, such as the Estée Lauder Jewelled Pin (£10 each, with full proceeds going to the cause).

If you’re on twitter, click over to @energizer_uk and make a Pink Energy Pledge. This can be anything, such as taking the stairs instead of the lift, every day until the end of the month and Energizer will donate £1 to the charity Breast Cancer Care (even though there are just a few days to go!).

Offering crucial information and support for all cancer patients and their loved ones, the Cancer Research UK website is packed with advice and further reading. Find out, too, how you can support the charity’s pioneering research.

Similarly, visit the brilliant Macmillan Cancer Support website and find out about the ways it offers invaluable emotional and practical support, advice and more to everyone affected by – or worried about – cancer, such as the free telephone helpline, Ask Macmillan. The site also provides excellent, in-depth but clear info about different types of cancer, their diagnosis and treatment and the extraordinary work of Macmillan Nurses both in homes and hospitals.

A mention, too, must be made of the fantastic work of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Kiss It Better charity, dedicated to raising money for research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer (read nonstopmama’s interview with founder Carmel Allen, earlier this year). Read, too, about the hospital’s Reuben Foundation Children’s Cancer Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital in evolving new treatments whilst providing expert clinical care.

No sooner had  I tweeted about the dreaded “nit alert” school letters doing the rounds again, the lovely PR team for Tisserand sent nonstopmama an emergency supply of the company’s much-loved Organic Tea Tree, Lemon & Rosemary Balancing Shampoo and Conditioner (£5.25 each, at tisserand.com). Nits famously don’t like the smell of tea tree essential oil, hence its presence in the majority of products designed to deter the little so-and-sos.

Nonstopmama also highly rates Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree Special Shampoo (from £4.25), Conditioner (from £4) and Shaping Cream (£13.25). I use a tiny amount of the latter over just-styled hair, to add a non-sticky “seal” of tea tree scent! It also comes as Styling Gel (£5.65). Locate your nearest stockist at paul-mitchell.co.uk).

Also, a quick word on nit combs. For regular checks and, sigh, if worse comes to worst and you need to get down to some serious de-bugging, we’ve yet to find a comb more effective (and indestructible) than the Nitty Gritty (£9.99, at Boots stores and online at boots.com). It’s genius. Not glamorous, perhaps. But genius, nonetheless.

We can’t resist all the new chocolate-coloured nail polishes hitting counters for autumn. As with eyeliner (and mascara, come to that), deep brown offers a softer alternative to jet black.

Anyway, we just wanted an excuse to feature the new, limited edition Nails Inc “Cadburys” Nail Polish (£11) in Cocoa Bliss, bearing the famous Dairy Milk logo. For white choc fans, there’s a Vanilla Bliss “creamy smooth vanilla” option, but we’re loving the brown. Nails Inc tells nonstopmama both shades are already “massive – everyone’s loving them” (available, while stocks last, at nails inc.com).

Other yummy, choccie-at-your-fingertips options: Maybelline New York‘s Express Finish 40 Seconds Lacquer (£3.99) in Chocolate Frost and Stargazer’s Nail Polish (a snip at £2.50) in new 505, a delicious milk chocolate (available now at New Look).

Any mama who braves the Dragon’s Den gets our respect. We don’t think we’d even make it up the staircase without slipping up – especially if we were attempting it in heels – let alone make a successful pitch, as Carol Savage did. Her online business, MyDish.co.uk, was snapped up by ‘Dragon’ Deborah Mead (Carol was featured on last night’s episode of Dragon’s Den: What Happened Next?).

But there’s more to mother of three Carol’s story that inspires us. Her eldest son, Oliver, was treated for a kidney condition at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) when he was nine years old. In order to ‘give back’ to the doctors and nurses who treated Oliver, Carol came up with a great fundraising idea: the personalised MyDish/Great Ormond Street 2011 Calendar.

The fab calendar, which was, in fact, Oliver’s idea, lets you choose your own recipe each month, add your own photos and include your personal important dates. It costs £15, with £5 going to GOSH (buy it online at MyDish.co.uk).

Nonstopmama caught up with Carol about the calendar and why it means so much to her. Read more.

This giveaway closed at midnight on Saturday 23 October and the winner has been informed.

This show is such a winner – it stars a certain famous builder, an imaginative purple dinosaur, a mousey ballerina … OK, enough of that. With Bob, Barney, Angelina plus Fireman Sam, Fifi Forget-me-not and (phew) Pingu, all on one stage, what’s not for a little person to love?

Continuing its UK tour, The Little Big Club Live in Concert - from Hit Entertainment and Premier Stage Productions – is, not surprisingly, proving to be a huge family favourite. Earlier this year, we ran a giveaway to win tickets to the London show. It was so popular that we’re thrilled to be able to run another one, this time to win a family ticket (admitting two adults and two children) to catch the show at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre on Sunday 31 October, at 3.30pm. Go, south coast nonstopmamas!!