Taking up (Crazy) Arms for sun protection
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A Canberra school has taken up (Crazy) Arms for sun protection and the fight against skin cancer.
It’s hard for any parent to ignore Sun Smart messages these days. But for Canberra mum Cath White, her sun-protective measures were extreme whenever her young daughter, Alexandra, left the house.
Cath lost her husband Ian in 2016 after he was diagnosed with melanoma in 2014.
Alexandra was just four years old.
Cath remembers sending Alexandra to childcare in long sleeves and long pants, smothered in sunscreen and under a hat.
“The poor kid, she really stood out.”
Yet Cath was determined that her daughter would have the safest upbringing when it came to sun exposure.
“Yes, you could say I was a little obsessive. I needed to teach her about the importance of being sun savvy without restricting her outdoor play activities. I also began to search for kids clothing that wasn’t beach/swimwear but offered protection from the harsh Aussie sun—there was little to be found. When Alexandra started school it became more challenging.”
Until Cath discovered Crazy Arms at the start of the year. An initiative of three Sydney-based sun-smart dads, these “sleeves” are designed to be worn under school and sports uniforms and other clothing instead of sunscreen.
Crazy Arms founders Stephen Busuttil, mum Cath White, design winner Sienna, and Martin Rippon.
They are UPF 50+ and are chlorine resistant if you want to wear them in the pool. They are also made from Econyl—a regenerated nylon which is recycled from abandoned fishing nets left at the bottom of the ocean.
For Cath it was a no-brainer. She loved the product and wrote the dads a glowing product review. Then she went a step further and approached them about sponsoring a competition to support her daughter’s school—Forrest Primary—in its sun smart policy.
Crazy Arms dads Martin Rippon, Jason Rance and Stephen Busuttil were happy to be on board and students were invited to grab their pencils, crayons and markers and let their imagination shine to design a pair of the sun-protective arm sleeves. Over 150 entries were received.
Yesterday the winner, Year 6 student Sienna got to show off her budding design skills wearing her new rainbow Crazy Arms.
Sienna with her winning design.
According to Martin, the business, which only started in November, is growing steadily.
“We were all dads who know when it comes to protecting kids from the sun, clothing is king as sunscreen can be a battle every morning, and need to be reapplied during the day. We wanted to come up with a really easy solution that would be cool and comfortable to wear.”
Approximately 30 per cent of UV rays land on arms, and the sleeves can easily be put on and taken off when kids come in from outdoors.
“I think it is just a genius idea personally,” said Cath.
“I’d love to see more kids wearing them. Because they come in different colours and designs they are seen as fun and it is great to have another weapon in the battle against sun damage on top of sunscreen.”
“We have taught our kids to always remember to wear their hats when they go outside and I’d love to see those same messages extend to covering up larger parts of their body. You can never be too sun smart in my opinion.”
Friday’s presentation was also a learning experience for Forrest students.
“It was a great opportunity for our students to meet these enterprising dads who saw a problem, identified a solution and brought a new product to life. The kids are passionate about the environment and loved that it used recycled fishing line.”
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