To continue our birthday celebrations through the year we are encouraging you to have your own Birthday Bash to raise funds so we can provide individual therapeutic treatment programmes for 25 clients.

Hold your own get together to celebrate the 25th birthday of The Cancer Support Centre. Why don’t you arrange a garden party, coffee morning, cake sale, tombola, a mufti day and have a party of your own collecting donations from your friends and colleagues.

Simply set up your own Justgiving donation page and join with the other businesses and individuals helping us to celebrate 25 years.

Every penny donated will come direct to us, to help us to provide a 121 therapeutic session for someone affected by cancer (cost to us £67) or a full treatment programme (cost £360 per client).

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, after the initial shock, I began the conveyor belt of hospital appointments, operations, chemo, radiotherapy and medications. Throughout it all I was regularly told how strong I was: the thing is I didn’t feel particularly strong but was on a road where I went through the motions required, laughing in the face of adversity and all that.

When active treatment finished that’s when I realised the reality was I wasn’t ok. I had become this person with cancer and really had no clue in body and mind who I was now and how to cope going forward.

Enter the Cancer Support Centre, from the moment I came through the doors I felt calmer. The assessment to discuss my needs already made me feel physically lighter, I’d been listened to and felt like a comforting arm was now around me supporting me.

Here I am now 4 years on from this. I still feel that comforting arm daily. I am in the enviable position of working in the centre office; I see people daily entering the centre as I did and see their faces lighter as a result of the support given.

I continue to go to yoga and have auricular acupuncture to manage the side effects from my meds. Why? Because the centre taught me the importance of putting myself at the top of the pyramid, you are important and to look after others you must look after you. All too often we forget this: whether we have a diagnosis or are a carer it’s always worth circling back and remembering. We are worth it!

Here we are celebrating 25 years of the Cancer Support Centre and my over riding thoughts are how exciting it is to be part of a charity that is continually striving for improvement. Always looking at how best to help clients coming through the door, be it their first visit or their 50th. I remember in my interview being told the most important person is the client, was this a flippant statement? No, I have seen first hand this really is the case, they are the heart of the Cancer Support Centre as it should be.