Macmillan column: New year, new lockdown but Macmillan is still supporting people living with cancer
Read the latest news from the Southport Macmillan Centre team.
The Southport and Formby Macmillan team
From the Southport Macmillan Centre team
It’s been a tricky start to the new year with another lock-down, but with the vaccination programme well underway at least we know that things are looking brighter even though we’ve still got to follow the rules for the time being!
Here at the Centre, although we’ve moved premises to Wright Street, we’re currently unable to offer any face-to-face contact with our service users and are mainly working from home.
However, we are still offering support by telephone and in many ways have never been busier. Being diagnosed with or living with cancer is traumatising enough without all the additional constrictions and problems that COVID-19 has brought us.
For anyone affected by cancer, we’re there to help support them both emotionally and practically. We can make onward referrals, help fill in forms, apply for blue badges and Macmillan grants and most of all, simply have the time to listen to their fears.
Throughout 2020 we waited patiently (but in vain) for news that our wonderful support groups could resume. We still don’t know when it’s going to be safe enough to welcome people back, so we’ve launched two new virtual support groups – one for anyone who’s bereaved and a general one for anyone who just wants to Zoom in for a chat!
If you’d like details of how to join us, please call or email us on the details below and we’ll send you the details – we’d love to see you!
What we’d really like to say is that, for anyone affected by cancer, we’re still here - we might not be able to hold their hand, or offer a comforting hug, but we’re still here at the end of the phone with a listening ear that won’t dismiss their concerns, however trivial the person themselves might consider them.
If you need support, you can reach us by calling Tanya on 07976 167188, Julia on 07947 630654 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm) or by emailing sfccg.macmillancic@nhs.net
Take care and stay safe.
The Southport Macmillan Centre is at 29 Wright Street, Southport, Merseyside
