Macmillan Cancer Support
Sussex Cancer Fund
Rotary & Inner Wheel
all working together
on a vitally-needed project
to help the many local people
affected by cancer

PLEASE HELP US BUILD

The Sussex Macmillan

Cancer Support Centre

The Sussex Macmillan Cancer
Support Centre

The Urgent Need in Sussex

The cancer incidence rate in Sussex is 20% above the national average with more than 40,000 people in Sussex currently living with cancer. Every year over 7,000 more people are told they have cancer, yet many are left with little or no information about the exact nature of their illness or the range of treatment options available at the time when they most need it.

Being told that you or someone you love has cancer can leave you feeling shocked, upset and isolated. It may be you need answers, reassurance or simply help with the things that matter to you. You may be worried about treatment or need help with practical problems such as, 'who will look after the children while I'm in hospital?' and 'how will I keep up my mortgage payments?'

Many people do not absorb all they hear at their initial diagnosis and may not ask the questions they need basic answers to. When faced with cancer and the fear and uncertainty that it may well bring, they need time to digest information at their own pace and the opportunity to ask more questions.

Filling the Gap

A recent consultation with people affected by cancer and health and social care professionals highlighted a major gap in cancer information and support services in Sussex. It emerged that many people received no written information at all, and those who did receive it often struggled to understand it, or found it 'too much in one go', or felt that what they were told was quite incomplete to prepare them for the unexpected changes in their lives.

Macmillan Cancer Support is building an innovative and vitally-needed Information and Support Centre for people affected by cancer across Sussex and filling a critical gap in services. We urgently need your help to raise £3.7m to create an essential facility, which only loyal community involvement and charitable contributions can currently provide.

	The Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre in Brighton is a dedicated partnership between Macmillan, the Sussex Cancer Fund and Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust to fill a major gap in cancer support.
	Specially designed by experts and people affected by cancer, the Centre will provide a holistic service in a calm, non-clinical environment.
	Patients, family, carers and friends will be able to visit the Centre at any stage of their cancer journey and find the support they need, when they need it.
	The Centre will offer: specialist information advice and quality resources; welfare benefits advice; counselling services; complementary therapies; a hair and wig service, a cafe and dietary advice, and self-help and support groups.
	The total cost of the Centre and staff will be £5.7m. Macmillan will contribute £3.7m to fund the building as well as staff costs for four years. The Sussex Cancer Fund has provided £1.6m, with a commitment to fund ongoing costs when it takes over the running of the Centre. The NHS Trust is providing £400,000 and the site for the Centre.

A Key Community Project

for Rotary, Inner Wheel & many others

This service is specifically provided for people in Sussex and it deserves and depends on continuing support from service organisations such as Rotary, Inner Wheel and other local fundraisers, such as companies, communities, charitable trusts and individuals to sustain the work done by the newly-created Support Centre.

To illustrate how your donations could help, here are a couple of examples:

£46,000 will pay for a quiet room, where people with cancer, their carers and families will receive counselling and the opportunity to talk about what is on their minds.

£94,000 would cover the cost of a fully-equipped meeting room, where self-help and support groups can get together and people will be offered practical and emotional support in small groups.

1 in 3 people will be affected by cancer at some point in their lives.
With an ageing population in Sussex, the need for our services is greater
than ever. We are all affected by cancer. We can all help.