A North East nurse was "furious" when funding for wellbeing services for cancer patients under her care was pulled - so she set up a charity to provide them instead.
Over the past three years, the Freeman hospital's Maureen Elliott has run Live Well With Cancer in her evenings and weekends. The charity provides a range of therapeutic services and support groups for patients and carers including craft sessions, art therapy and creative writing groups.
Maureen works as a cancer specialist nurse at the Freeman hospital. She explained the charity's work is about using whatever tools available - away from hospitals - to protect the mental health of those going through cancer and their loved ones. She said: "Our focus is very much on mental wellbeing and we focus on what patients will tell us.
Read more: Unions cancel NHS picket lines 'out of respect' for tragic Hexham teen Holly Newton
"Everyone has varying needs. so we just listen to what they're saying. We know that the creative arts have huge benefits - and everything we do is evidence and practice-based. What we do is we want to make all of the support accessible. Everything we do is person-led."
The charity started shortly before the pandemic hit, but Maureen explained that this was a "blessing in disguise". "We had plans for the whole year and then Covid hit," she said. "We had to think on our feet. But we ended up doing our programme by Zoom. It was a blessing really, as it made us really focus on the mental wellbeing side of things.
"We think of ourselves as a safety net. One of the key things is being able to go somewhere outside the walls of the hospital."
Maureen works with cancer units in Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle to help reach those who could benefit - and said long-term, her aim would be to set up a "one-stop-shop" café-like venue where people could pop in for a drink and get involved in therapeutic activities too. For the time being, the charity runs events at locations like the Linskill Centre in North Shields and Forest Hall café Sands of Tyne.
"My niece was only 30 when she was diagnosed with cancer - and one of the reasons behind this charity was seeing the ripple effect of that through my family. It hits everyone's wellbeing - the person with cancer and then everyone who knows them. "
Maureen explained that whether it be the arts and crafts-based sessions or simply coffee mornings, or the charity's annual "Michael Baublé" event - where participants create Christmas decorations for one another - being a community was key. She said: "There's nothing like the conversation you have around the table. Everyone has a story to tell and there's something reassuring about hearing you are not alone."
One of those to attend art therapy sessions was Seaton Sluice woman Clare Quinney. Clare was diagnosed with a brain tumour 11 years ago, she told ChronicleLive how after her diagnosis she made a life-changing decision.
"I have now had this brain tumour for 11 years. I had had a long career in health and social care," she said. "But when I was diagnosed I reached a point where I took a year out and retrained as a music therapist. I had always sung and used my voice, and I played the piano and the violin."
Clare herself helps to offer "sound baths" - being immersed in music - for people using the charity, while she also enjoys the sociability of the sessions. She added: "When I was diagnosed, I knew that I had to make my life as stress free as possible. That was as important for me as it was for my health."
Hospice nurse Holly Smith, who looks after children who have cancer, added: "Some of my colleagues have cancer, and people in our family have also been through it. I've lost friends, too. This sort of activity can be so helpful, it's really rewarding."
The art therapy sessions are run by Fiona Clark. She explained some of the benefits, saying: "Sometimes people don't always have the words to explain what we're going through or how things are affecting us. But if we sit for a few minutes sometimes it can help to use art.
"But it's not about art per se, or having perfection in art. There's something about picking up a brush and just focussing on that bit of paper. You don't have to think about everything else that will be going on. It can also be a huge thing and a way to express the pain that you are going through. "
World Cancer Day took place on February 4. To find out more about Live Well With Cancer, visit the charity's Facebook page.
READ NEXT:
- New ambulances 'welcome' say North East leaders as Government warned more staff and Levelling Up are vital
- Blood scandal campaigners are 'right to be angry' says top barrister warning wrongdoing medics should face criminal courts
- NHS seeks feedback on urgent care in Newcastle as Westgate Road walk-in centre to remain closed until March
- Hospital trust chair explains reasons behind 'unprecedented NHS challenges' include strikes, Long Covid and climate change
- NHS waiting lists in numbers: How many people are waiting for treatment in the North East and which operations take the longest
