Kind Plymouth people needed to become 'cancer champions'

Organisers of a project which aims to support people in Plymouth affected by cancer is appealing for community ‘champions’ who can be there to provide vital advice – or just offer a listening ear.

The Plymouth Cancer Champions Project is funded by Macmillan Cancer and is hosted by the Zebra Collective at the Mount Wise Neighbourhood Centre.

With a new project manager having taken the helm of their six-strong team, a ‘connections’ conference is being held this Thursday, November 21, at Devonport Market Hall from 10am-3pm, aimed at creating links with other interested groups but also members of the public.

Although the project has been running since April, project manager Niqui Bond believes there are many people who will not yet have heard about it.

They are already working in collaboration with Age UK Plymouth, Wolseley Trust and to an extent the Waterside PCN, but Niqui said: “I would love people to know about the project, as we are fairly new and only started in April, and we have made lots of links within Devonport and Stonehouse where we are starting, but actually there are a lot of other areas and lots of other people who might be interested in what we are doing, but don’t even know we exist.”

The project has funding for three years, and aims to both prevent and detect cancer, but also provide support for those who might have had treatment and need greater help.

Niqui continued: “Macmillan has funded it, and they’ve been doing lots of engagement with people in Plymouth, and some of the common themes that people have been saying is that they didn’t recognise the signs of cancer early enough, while other people felt really supported during cancer treatment at Derriford Hospital, but once that had ended the support really fell off a cliff and people just felt like they had been left.

“Often people with cancer, although their treatment might end, how they are feeling and some of their side-effects of that treatment, that doesn’t end.

“As an example, we’ve been talking to a person recently who has had treatment for bowel cancer, and they have ended up with a stoma, and every now and then they soil themselves – so they feel like they don’t want to go out in case they have an accident.

"So that person has become very isolated, very down. While the treatment was great and his cancer has now gone, sometimes people don’t realise those knock-on effects afterwards.”

She added: “People were also saying to Macmillan that they felt there was limited peer support, often money was a barrier, and people from minority ethnic communities also found that there was little support for them.

“Macmillan decided they wanted to do something, and this is the first project they have decided to do in Plymouth of this type. They’ve got other ‘cancer champions’ projects elsewhere in the country, but this is the first one in Plymouth.”

The project has a ‘community-engaged approach’ meaning that they are on the hunt for people who could act as ‘cancer champions’ for others in their neighbourhood.

Niqui said: “Cancer champions are people in the community who take an active role in helping each other with their cancer journeys,” she said.

“It might be Jo who lives next door, and her auntie has had cancer and she knows what it feels like, and somebody down the road is worried or there are signs of symptoms, and it might be a case of her saying ‘you need to go to the doctors’.

“But it could also be people within organisations, it could be hairdressers – as people come in and talk to them. We want to create these people who are prepared to talk about cancer and help people to get to the right places.”

She added: “It’s not going in and saying ‘we think you need this’ or ‘we think you need that’, it’s really going in and listening to the people and finding out what they do need and any barriers they have.

“The cancer champions aren’t necessarily experts, but we are there to get into the community to help people to help themselves.”

Among the existing support from their team is a digital inclusion support worker – who can help those who might not have internet access, or feel as comfortable filling out forms online – and a social prescriber. This week’s conference also aims to create links with other providers and support groups.

Niqui said: “The aim of the conference is to get lots of people who work in cancer areas within Plymouth, but also members of the public, together to talk about some of the health inequities in Plymouth, and potentially how the cancer champions project can link in to help and support people.”

She added: “We’re also hosting cake and cuppa sessions, but in this case it would be cake and cuppa with cancer awareness, kindness and empathy – with regards to the whole feeling of being dropped off a cliff.

“When people have cancer, sometimes they just want someone to talk to, and it might be about cancer, and sometimes it might be nothing to do with cancer, they just want to get out and meet other people.”

Places at the conference this Thursday are limited, so booking is essential at https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Y50846 or by calling 07421 125651.

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