Cancer care charity marks 18th birthday
CANCER care charity Maggie’s is marking its 18th birthday in the city by celebrating the people it helped ‘ when their world turned upside down’.
Centre Head Kerry Craig said: “There are lots of statistics in the news just now about the impact coronavirus has had on cancer patients. We want to remind everyone that behind each of those numbers is a real person.
“For 18 years we have been helping people find ways to hold on to who they are when their world is turned upside down. We thought that celebrating some of those stories on our social media pages would be the perfect way to mark this milestone birthday.”
Through a high- profile campaign in the newspaper, our readers raised £ 1.2 million to build the first Glasgow Maggie’s Centre at the Western Infirmary in 2002. It moved to Gartnavel in 2011.
The charity was the vision of Maggie Kewswick Jencks, who had breast cancer. She drew up the blueprints for the original centre in Edinburgh in the months running up to her death in 1995. Chief executive Laura Lee worked with Maggie’s husband, renowned architect Charles Jencks, to ensure her friend’s vision became a reality.
Elizabeth Rudebeck was diagnosed with years ago.
“We found Maggie’s really useful when we didn’t know where else to go,” she explains. “We weren’t really prepared for how difficult things would be after my treatment, both physically and mentally.
“I thought I would return to normal quite quickly – but it actually took about two years to fully recover.”
She adds: “It’s now almost eight years since my diagnosis and generally I’m fit and well. I feel very grateful for all the support I received from the Maggie’s breast cancer eight
Centre at such time of my life.”
Maggie’s, which now has 23 UK centres, provides a professionallydelivered programme of practical, emotional and social support, in a beautiful and welcoming environment.
The charity has continued to offer support and guidance throughout the COVID- 19 pandemic.
Face- to- face appoi ntments are available in the centre, along with a programme of small groups and classes. This support runs alongside ongoing phone, email and virtual support. a frightening
Kerry added: “We rely almost entirely on voluntary donations, and like so many other organisations our fundraising has been hard hit this year.
“We are so excited about our online birthday auction – not only can people bid on everything from cupcakes to seaplane trips, they can also pledge to support things like our benefits advice sessions, which are more vital than ever right now.”
To find out more, visit the charity’s website or drop in to the centre at Gartnavel General Hospital on Great Western Road.