Everyone has a north star, a guiding light to help you find your soul purpose and mine came from a promise that I made to my mother before she died. She has guided me in finding my own north star. To help people going through breast cancer, to help them restore body confidence in themselves.”
Ffion Haf Hughes is the founder of the Little Wren Clinic and Academy in Caernarfon North Wales. With a background in fine art and paramedical tattooing, she proves with an unwavering passion, that the bridge between the worlds of art, medicine and wellbeing is a strong and connected one.
Fusing her tattoo artistry with a paramedical skin specialism, Ffion tattoos areolas and nipples for people who have undergone mastectomies and reconstructions resulting from breast cancer.
Jo Haycock, a storyteller with Tenovus Cancer Care spent the day with Ffion at Little Wren, where they shared how aligned the values are between charity and clinic in their holistic and inclusive support offered to people affected by cancer.
My mother died of cancer in 2018 and I spent every day with her during those final months while she was in hospital having treatment. I got to know other patients there, many being treated for breast cancer and they had all become great friends with my mother. She regularly talked to them about me and what we had started doing at Little Wren, with tattooing areolas after breast surgery.
She said, promise me cariad fach, that you will do more with this. That you will continue to help people like them after I’ve gone.”
Ffion first fell in love with advocacy, from the relationships she formed with clients through the clinic practice in her art therapy training. It was in those early years where she first discovered a strong link, that her art could help to empower those people whose bodies had physically changed after their breast cancer treatment.
During this time I helped a former boyfriend, also an artist to set up a tattoo studio. As I was still studying for my MA in in art therapy, I ended up working there part-time with him doing tattoos.
People began asking me if I could tattoo nipples. So I thought to myself yes, I could definitely do that!
I didn’t even know back then this was a thing, but I did realise that it could be life-changing for those who are faced with a different body after surgery.”
Ffion began researching how to do this, only to find that it was quite well-known over the world but that nobody was offering this service in Wales around that time.
“I left the tattoo studio and set up Little Wren. I trained as a paramedical specialist, which in my case means I tattoo the body to create a match to how it once was, giving something back to that has been taken away.”
The clinic has grown over the years with Ffion creating a unique service that continues to grow into a collaborative advocacy package. Starting from the breast cancer diagnosis and coming as referrals via NHS health boards.
After her mother died, Ffion founded the Judith Trust which a charity named in her honour and driven by a promise to continue building the service and preserve her mother’s legacy.
Dedicated to offering an extended care package for breast cancer patients, and with her experience of working in multidisciplinary teams, Ffion reached out to hospitals and medical practitioners who shared Little Wren’s values.
It’s more than just a relationship between a hospital and clinic. It’s about joining up the treatment, the aftercare and the patient’s wellbeing around their body positivity. All this is vital in their long-term recovery.
Patients are referred to us early into their diagnosis, which means that we also get to consult with them, talk about their physical and holistic needs after breast reconstruction. We even photograph their breasts so that we can plan between us the right colour palette after their surgery. "
The referrals have grown over the years, so much so that Ffion now trains other artists to help support with demand. It means she can refer clients on to them, confident that they hold the same care and creative approach as she does. There are now 17 artists across the country doing this type of tattooing.
“We already have the data that supports how stress and being drowned in cortisol can hinder healing. Imagine worrying about how to be intimate with your partner post-treatment and the risk of your relationship breaking down.”
Ffion explains how she wants to see more joined up support offered across health boards and practitioners for people after cancer treatment and this should become a necessity rather than a want. She is already reaching out to collaborate with local dentists, wigmakers and even leisure centres to offer an aftercare and holistic journey to support the physical treatment once that finishes.
I want this service to become recognised as a vital healthcare package in people’s treatment plan. From the point of diagnosis, people are so worried about what comes with the treatment. Like a woman losing her breast, possibly their hair and damaged teeth from the harsh side effects of the cancer treatment. They’re already worried about how they’re going to look and feel, it’s like they’re about to be stripped of their former identity.
So my biggest why, my north star for growing this care package for breast cancer patients will always be from the promise that I made to my mother. I want everyone to be able to have on-going support beyond the diagnosis, beyond the treatment. She is my constant reminder.”
