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Centre Newsletter
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The Centre’s 20th Anniversary Concert took place on Saturday 12th July at St. John’s, Smith Square.
Hosted in style by the broadcaster John Humphrys, it was a memorable evening of music with a distinctive Welsh flavour. Pendyrus Male Choir performed wonderfully from a varied and stirring repertoire of traditional Welsh airs and folk tunes, West End favourites and operatic choruses. International opera soprano and Centre member Anne Williams-King shone with dramatic renditions of heroines from Verdi and Puccini while the Organist of Westminster Abbey, James ’Donnell, thrilled the audience with virtuoso performances of Whitlock’s Sherzetto and Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster.
Trustee Stephanie Jacobs gave a moving address explaining that, despite all the statistics, a cancer diagnosis remains a unique and deeply personal event. She described how “by the greatest good fortune” she found the Centre -“ a place where there was time and space and choice: a place where there was no set piece, no fixed programme, but rather, a variety of approaches and doors to open, all underpinned by a wonderful, straightforward kindness”.
Following the concert a Champagne Reception was held in the Crypt. Patrons Geraldine James, Angharad Rees and Susannah York, together with John Humphrys and many of the performers, mingled with supporters, volunteers and staff celebrating 20 years of The Cancer Resource Centre. An impromptu auction of the beautiful flower arrangements provided by Home Visiting volunteer Despina Barry provided some lucky guests with a further reminder of a very enjoyable and successful evening.
Our award winning Home Visiting Service goes from strength to strength. Now in its 8th year, the service held a “thank you” party in June for all its staff and volunteers who had contributed over that time. The party was well attended by members of the team, past and present, and thanks go to Jane Nairac, a volunteer of seven years, who with her husband Francois hosted the party in her beautiful garden.
The highlight of the evening was a “This Is Your Life” event which allowed Heather Smith, current head of the Service and senior counsellor at the Centre, to outline the key achievements, invite people to share their experiences and to hand out certificates to those volunteers present. Food and drink was plentiful, much of it prepared by the volunteers, and a good time was had by all!
The summer period has seen the launch of our new Asian language publications in Gujarati, Urdu and English produced jointly with the Royal Marsden Hospital and Wandsworth PCT. Orders have rushed in from all over the country and a reprint is now taking place.
In April Rachel’s Project video was launched. The Centre supported the making of the video and a longstanding Centre member, Rani Samara, appears in it. We are glad to say that the video will be distributed by the Leukaemia Research Fund. Congratulations to Jo Howard, former Chair of the Centre, for bringing the project to a successful completion.
The Centre has a lively autumn in store with the launch of Taking Control of Cancer, a book to which we have contributed; the conference put on by our Asian Information and Outreach Project; our Annual General Meeting plus the home visiting volunteers’ training course and two workshops. We are also holding a special event at Westminster in October, hosted by Martin Linton MP, to underline the need for support for community-based cancer services and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of both the Centre and CYANA in East London.
We are pleased the speakers will be Dr Ian Gibson MP, Chair of the Commons All Party Group on Cancer, Dr Judith McNeill of Macmillan Community Links Department and a member of the Cancer Task Force and Karol Sikora, Professor of Cancer Medicine at Imperial College.
Taking Control of Cancer has been written by Beverley van der Molen, Patient Information Manager at the Royal Marsden, who was previously Macmillan Cancer Information Officer here at the Centre. Published by Class Publishing, the book contains very helpful information about cancer services and all the different professionals who are involved in service delivery.
However, the book’s power comes from the account of individuals’ experiences of cancer and the impact it has had on their lives. These add richness to Beverley’s text, which is itself a very useful guide to help people to gain a sense of control of their cancer experience.
Most of the contributors to the book are Centre members and they will be joining Beverley at this year’s AGM when they will be talking about “Taking Control of Cancer” and sharing their experiences.This promises to be a truly interactive session.
Please do try to come on Thursday, 6th November - the AGM is a social gathering as well as a business meeting, a chance to celebrate the achievements of the year and to put forward ideas for the future.
Would anyone have available:
Two metal 4-drawer filing cabinets, in good condition, at least one of which needs to be lockable?
An L-shaped office desk (right return) approx 185cm long/120cm deep
A CD player or Discman with speakers
Clara, our Administrator, would be very grateful to hear from anyone who could donate any of these items.
We are enclosing a form for members and Friends of the Centre to renew for the year ahead from October.
Thank you to all our members who returned their questionnaires – we value your comments and ideas. Happily 97% of you were satisfied with our services!
Saturday 20th September 11am – 4pm with Richard Nickols
Labyrinths are an ancient tool in many cultures for centering the self and gaining insight into where we are and where we’re going. Walking the labyrinth often helps people to reconnect with their vision or purpose in life and brings into focus transitions people are going through. Labyrinths often release our sorrows and touch our joys.
In this workshop writing and colour will be used to record and reflect on insights gained. Richard will lay out a canvas labyrinth, with a replica of the floor labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, and there will be walks throughout the day. The workshop is open to people of all faiths and of none.
Richard Nickols is trained in Psychosynthesis Counselling and Therapy and is an experienced labyrinth facilitator. If you would like to talk to us about what will be involved, please contact Petra on 020 7924 3924.
Venue: All Saints, 100 Prince of Wales Drive, London SW11. Fee: £25, £10 concessions.
Advance booking is essential. Contact the Centre.
Are there any budding librarians out there?
The information service is undergoing a revamp with new materials and we are looking for a volunteer to help Fiona, the Macmillan Information Officer, manage the library of books, tapes, booklets and leaflets. Responsibilities will include processing returns and new books, restocking the leaflets and booklets and updating the notice boards. Help would only be needed once or twice a month at most and could be flexible to suit the person.
If anyone is interested, please contact Fiona Charman on 020 7924 3924 (Monday & Thursday) for further details.
Macmillan Biggest Coffee Morning in the World 26 September
The Macmillan Team at St George’s Tooting are hosting a fundraising coffee morning in the Main Entrance. Donations welcome for a freshly brewed cup of tea or coffee and refreshments! Information about reducing cancer risk and various cancers will also be available and there is the chance to meet the Macmillan Team. Chance to win a car for £1 a go. All welcome.
Throughout October there will be exhibitions about cancer held by the cancer nurses in the Main Entrance. Topics will include urological cancers, breast cancer, gynaecological cancers, bowel and lung cancer, cancer genetics, palliative care and healthy living.
In November the Centre, with its partner Cancer Equality, is organizing a national conference to be held at The London Voluntary Sector Resource Centre in north London.
This exciting conference offers an opportunity to learn from a variety of initiatives working with black and Asian communities. Keynote speakers, including Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, will start and end the day. In between there will be eight workshops in the late morning and early afternoon.The workshops will look at: How successful projects have been set up and maintained What lessons can be learned from these What kind of initiatives have worked less well and why Most workshops will be repeated in the afternoon and everyone will have a chance to attend two during the day. Information will be displayed on a range of topics and participants are encouraged to bring samples of their work to share with others.
Attendance is free for people with cancer and their carers and to individuals from community groups.
For more information including costs to other organizations and a booking form, please contact Andrea Oz on 020 8656 7520 or email canconf@aol.com
Want to help on the day? We would be delighted if any Centre members would like to join our conference team helping to get the day underway such as signposting people and other similar tasks. Please contact Jas Kang (Asian Outreach Worker) or Val Speechley (Deputy Director).
Even before the official launch on 9th July, requests were being received for the new publications, Understanding and Living with Cancer and Reduce Your Cancer Risk, in English, Gujarati and Urdu. Publicity was mainly by word of mouth and contacts Jas, our Asian Outreach Worker, had made through other New Opportunities Fund projects.
Following the launch at the Centre, which was accompanied by a national press release, interest and orders have come in from all over the country and thousands of booklets have been distributed. Interest has also been generated by a mail out to cancer centres and cancer units in the greater London area.
Jas and Madhu Agarwal, a member of our partner in the project Cancer Equality, have been interviewed on BBC Asian World radio and a feature was screened on Zee TV.
The booklets are unique in the UK as the first translated materials about cancer in Asian languages and have shown the worth of collaboration between the voluntary and statutory sectors. The booklets have been so successful we have had to arrange for a reprint!
To obtain copies, please phone the Centre on 020 7978 6203 or 020 7924 3924.
I was introduced to The Cancer Resource Centre through a family friend who helped there as a volunteer. Having undergone a double mastectomy, I felt fairly frail and needed help to get me back on the road to recovery.
I spoke to the Centre’s Information Officer, who suggested making use of the Home Visiting Service in the first instance as I wasn’t particularly mobile after my operation and I had also started chemotherapy. I therefore had a series of visits at home, during which I received massage and reflexology. But as I progressed and became more mobile I felt I could start going to the Centre.
Arriving at the Centre I felt very apprehensive because I didn’t know what to expect. But as I walked in, I was stunned by the wonderful tranquillity, warmth and “homely” feeling of the Centre. Everyone was very welcoming, which really helped make me feel peaceful and calm.
I had a long chat with one of the counsellors, who was terrific. She was understanding and compassionate – and a great listener too! During our conversation I was amazed at all the options available to Centre members – for example, massage, relaxation and visualisation, spiritual healing, reflexology, counselling and yoga - and we decided that relaxation and visualisation would be my best route as I was not robust enough to do yoga or something similar.
The relaxation and visualisation class was held at the Centre in a group. It was a great support network for both men and women as everyone had a story to tell but the common theme was that everyone was determined to help themselves to get over cancer. The whole experience was extremely uplifting.
I will always treasure the help, advice and friendship the Centre has given me. It made a huge difference to me and I know contributed tremendously to my speedy return to normal life. The Centre is indeed a very special place.
Helen Mothio
Relaxation and visualisation (R&V) complement each other. Relaxation brings a person to a state of stillness within which images can be used to manage stress, anxiety and other complex emotions.
Val Thomas is a highly qualified and experienced therapist who has been using visualisation techniques for over a decade. And research has shown that imagery can promote well being and positive attitudes. So what does happen in an R&V session?
Although R&V can take place in a group, here at the Centre Val offers one-to-one sessions.The first step for the client is to relax, sitting comfortably and using breathing exercises to achieve this.Then an image (or images) is chosen by the client – visualisation – perhaps to represent the source of their current stress. For example, many people ask for R&V sessions to prepare them for chemotherapy. The chosen image can be guided by the therapist and client towards a positive outcome.
Each R&V session lasts for an hour but once the client has a guided imagery “script” they are encouraged to practice this regularly at home to gain more benefit.
R&V is offered on a one-off basis and also as a series of four sessions. Feedback from our clients is consistently positive -“ The sessions were highly productive and have changed my life to a huge positive degree”.
If you think R&V could be helpful to you, talk to one of the Centre staff.
Wednesday 15th October 10.30 – 4pm
Come to the Centre’s Drop In and Draw workshop, a creative prescription for wellbeing and insight – as well as a lot of fun!! Enjoy our colour station, get involved in collage making and enliven the creative spirit through drawing.
This event is part of The Campaign for Drawing’s The Big Draw 2003. The annual October Big Draw brings together thousands of people at hundreds of venues across the UK. Here they can discover that drawing aids observation, communication and creativity and, above all, gives pleasure. It aims to encompass 1000 events on a wide range of themes - www.thebigdraw.org.uk This workshop is free but donations would be gratefully received. For more details, contact Emma or Honor at the Centre.
Several companies are currently supporting the Centre’s work in several ways and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the following organisations: Troika, through its Troika Foundation, has donated £6,000 towards the provision of Relaxation & Visualisation and Massage sessions at the Centre. Troika has also provided much appreciated IT advice recently. Lyndon Price, on behalf of the Troika Foundation, remarked “The Troika Foundation and Troika employees are proud to have the opportunity to support The Cancer Resource Centre in its much needed and fantastic work.”
Peter Jones, through its Charities Committee, has awarded £1,500 towards the updating of the Centre’s website to make it easier to navigate and to permit the use of photographs. The donation has also enabled the purchase of software to enable website visitors to request and receive an electronic version of this newsletter.
Hewlett Packard recently provided the Centre with a digital camera, colour printer and scanner. These items are to help keep records of artwork created in therapeutic creative art sessions and will also be of great use for a range of publicity and promotional requirements.
Although the Centre is unfortunately unable to obtain team places for the Flora London Marathon, Simon Penney and Ricky Elmer made their own solo efforts in April. Simon also ran the Marathon in 2002 to raise money for the Centre and this year raised £470 in sponsorship. Ricky, who has made use of the Centre’s services, ran his first marathon in a very good time and came back to the Centre to present us with £604.
Well done to both Simon and Ricky! If you would like to run the London Marathon or know anyone else who plans to, please consider raising sponsorship for the Centre at the same time. Individual entry forms for the ballot are available shortly from selected sport shops, or contact Annette at the Centre on 020 7924 3924 (Mon-Weds), or through fundraising@cancer-resource-centre.org.uk
The Centre fielded 8 team members for the British 10K Road Race on the morning of Sunday 13 July.
A very warm sunny day saw staff members Fiona Charman and Clara Crooke-Mosha and Centre member Ricky Elmer joining supporters Amy Douglas, Mike Hurford, Andrew Gittins, Zianab Momoh and Neal Morgan for a team photo next to Eros. It was then off down the Mall to join 10,000 other runners in a friendly and party-like atmosphere.
All our runners completed the 10K - a very scenic route through central London - in good times, with Mike heading up our male contingent at 42 minutes and Amy our female one at 60 minutes.
Congratulations to everyone on the team for taking up this particular challenge. Sponsorship is still coming in but looks set to top the £1,500 mark. It was the first time the Centre has had a team entry in a running event - but definitely not our last!
A generous bequest from former Home Visiting client Diana Hughes-Hughes for £13,614 has now been received in full. A legacy of £2,000 has also been recently received from CW (Tony) Pitman, husband of Maureen - a Centre member.
We are very grateful that Diana and Tony chose to support our ongoing work by remembering the Centre in their wills.
Donations for the Centre and another nominated charity were requested at the funeral in May of Tess Duncan, a Centre member. One of her husband’s work colleagues also raised money through wearing silly clothes to work. A total of £1,147 has been given to the Centre in Tess’s memory. Following the death of Centre member Abid Ansari in June, his work colleagues held a raffle and raised £195 for the Centre.
As part of World Reflexology Week (21st - 28th September), the Centre is holding a Reflexology Day on Sunday 28th September.
Taking place at The Vitality Centre (155 Merton Road, SW18) between 11am and 4pm, a team of reflexologists will provide 30 minute sessions, while a beauty therapist will offer manicures and pedicures. Each treatment costs just £10 - so why not make a date to treat your hands and feet and help raise money for the Centre at the same time?
To book your session(s) call The Vitality Centre on 020 8871 4677.
Don’t forget to tell your friends and colleagues about Reflexology Day too!
An art event to be held early next year
Four Centre workers (Honor, Caroline, Emma and Eleanor), and four volunteers with art expertise, form the core voluntary team organising this beneficiary event, which as the title suggests, will involve young as well as established artists. The excitement over this event is already palpable. At this early stage we are contacting some famous “Old Masters” who have supported us in the past and we would really appreciate your assistance. If you have a personal contact with a well known artist, please email Caroline Clark - caromoffat@ hotmail.com - or phone 0776 888 2615.
We can give you further details and with your help start to expand the exciting list of artists ready to support the Centre.
It may not yet be Christmas, but it’s always worth getting organised ahead of time. Which of your friends and relations would you like to reward with one of our luxury Xmas puddings? Suitable for vegetarians and with no gm ingredients our own-label puddings are made in Cumbria and make delicious and seasonal gifts. A mail order form is included with this newsletter - you can even order now but ask for the pudding(s) to be posted out in December.
At the beginning of September Suzanne Pirker joined the Centre as a Fundraiser. Working alongside Annette Carmichael, Suzanne’s job includes approaching trusts and companies for donations, looking after our growing Give As You Earn programme, handling some aspects of publicity and helping organise and co-ordinate fundraising events. Suzanne works Tuesday – Friday and you can call her on 020 7924 3924 or email fundraising@cancer-resource-centre.org.uk to discuss any fundraising ideas or contacts.
Sunday 28 September 11am-4pm Reflexology Day at The Vitality Centre Spring 2004 Young Talent - Old Masters Art Event
The views expressed in this publication should not necessarily be taken as those of The Cancer Resource Centre.
20 - 22 York Road London SW11 3QE
Tel: 020 7924 3924
Email: office@cancer-resource-centre.org.uk
Website: www.cancer-resource-centre.org.uk
Registered Charity No: 287693