Maggie's Centres

• Thursday, 23 April 2009 10:34
• Last Updated Sunday, 17 May 2009 12:14

Maggie's Centres were the vision of the designer and landscape architect Maggie Keswick Jencks when she herself was treated for Cancer. She recognised the difficulties of accessing information and emotional support, which are so vital to people facing a diagnosis of cancer. She had a vision of beautiful buildings, located on hospital grounds, staffed by cancer professionals, where people could drop in at any time for a cup of tea and get information, support and inspiration to not only cope with cancer, but to live their lives to the full. She worked tirelessly with her medical team in Edinburgh developing a blueprint of how a centre would run and died with the plans for the first centre on her bed in 1996. There are now six centres across the UK, plus three interim facilities, and five more centres are planned across England and Wales by 2012.

Maggie’s Programme of Support

Maggie’s Centres provide a programme of emotional and psychological support and practical advice to anyone affected by cancer. This includes a range of classes, from relaxation to tai chi to art therapy; a range of psychological support in group and one to one sessions run by trained psychologists; a library of information, with cancer support specialists on hand to answer question; benefits advice from benefits officer, and much more. All of these services are available on a drop in basis, free of charge, to people with cancer and their families, friends and carers. And all of this is offered with a cup of tea in an atmosphere that is determinedly non-institutional. Walking into Maggie’s is like walking into the kitchen of a well-informed friend who has plenty of time to talk.

Where to Find Maggie’s Centres:

• Maggie's Edinburgh - Open
• Maggie's Glasgow - Open
• Maggie's Dundee - Open
• Maggie's Highlands - Open
• Maggie's Fife - Open
• Maggie's London - Open
• Maggie's Oxford – Interim Service
• Maggie's South West Wales – Interim Service
• Maggie's Lanarkshire – Interim Service
• Maggie's Nottingham - Planned
• Maggie's North East - Planned
• Maggie's Cotswolds - Planned

CLICK HERE to visit the Maggie’s website for further information on the services Maggie’s Centres offer.

BT Buddies would like to thank Pam Richardson from Maggie's for writing this article