Volunteers raise 9k for ‘cool cap’
BIG-HEARTED volunteers heeded the call for funding needed to buy a machine to help chemotherapy patients at a Runcorn medical unit to keep their hair during treatment.
The Cantreat Chemotherapy Unit had two “cool cap” devices but heightened demand meant it needed a third.
When volunteers at Cansupport, a volunteerled charity based at Halton Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire, heard about this they embarked on a mission to raise the £9,000 needed to buy another machine.
Their efforts garnered donations from patients, families, friends and community groups and achieved the target in six months.
A Paxman scalp-cooling machine has now been delivered and is in use in the Cantreat Chemotherapy Unit at Halton Hospital.
The unit is run by Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Trust and provides outpatient treatments to patients from Halton, Warrington and surrounding areas of Cheshire.
The machine works by cooling the scalp, which means cancer patients retain more of their hair during treatment.
Cansupport said some patients have reported such minimal hair loss that using the machine enabled them to “just feel normal” while undergoing treatment.
Ian Downing, Cansupport chairman, said: “We are pleased we could support the nursing team in the unit.
“A patient who keeps their hair can feel like themselves and importantly they have some control.”
Laura Selby, Cantreat manager, said: “The new cool cap machine has increased our capacity to offer this treatment to many more patients each year.
“We are very lucky to have a team of excellent volunteers.
“Not only do they provide refreshments to our patients, they also fundraise so we can purchase and use the latest equipment in our unit.”
Cansupport helps to provide counselling, complementary therapies and courses for cancer patients when their treatment has finished.
Anyone can donate or fundraise on behalf of the group, by calling Ian Downing on 07792 698 286 for details or send a cheque to the Cansupport Fundraising Group c/o The Delamere Centre, Halton Hospital, Hospital Way, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 2DA.