Volunteer drivers going the extra mile

What an incredible team of volunteer drivers support the Newbury & District Cancer Care Trust (NDCCT)!

A team of 20 volunteer drivers currently support the Trust and local cancer patients week on week, year on year by providing their time and vehicles to ferry local patients to their appointments, to many hospitals & clinics around the South of England. The benefits offered by NDCCT is individual door to door service thereby avoiding issues of parking or need to use public transport at times of personal stress. While transport can be provided by NHS services these often involve waiting time for other patients to finish their treatment.

In the past year, some 952 trips were provided for 132 patients involving some 2885 hours of the drivers spare time. Most of these journeys were to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading but others were as far afield as London, Oxford, Bristol, Guildford and Southampton.

Appreciation of the transport service abound and typical of these are comments such as “Thank you for sorting out drivers for me for my radiotherapy sessions, I am so grateful” and “You all helped to make my visits so much less stressful – thank you!”

Critical to the efficiency of this service is the role of transport organiser and here we have been blessed with the involvement of Angus MacDonald and Dina Dunsdon. Angus held the role for some 5.5 years before stepping down this year to hand over temporarily to Dina. Such is the demand of this role that it will in future be covered by 2 people. We have recently recruited for these positions and welcome Angela Hamideh and Alan Bryant to our team.

With more than one in three people in the UK now being affected by some form of cancer the demands on our services is ever increasing. We would welcome any interest from individuals who would like to join our team of volunteer drivers – contact Helen Milroy on 01635 31542.

Anyone needing further information about our transport service should contact 07717783811 or email [email protected]

Newbury & District Cancer Care Trust works with Volunteers, Clinical Nurse Specialists, the Charles Clore Day Hospice and Medical Professionals to improve the care and support of patients and families living with cancer and other life limiting illnesses in the local community. Last year we absorbed the running of The Friends of The Charles Clore Unit. In addition, we offer; Funding support to West Berks Community Hospital for clinical and material needs, Funding support to other Therapy providers, Equipment loan to cancer patients, and, some grant provision in times of hardship related to illness.

What and Who is Newbury & District Cancer Care Trust ?

We are a local community charity established in 1985 able to respond quickly to the needs of local people. The Trust works closely with Volunteers, Clinical Nurse Specialists, the Charles Clore Day Therapy Unit and Medical Professionals to improve the care and support of patients and families living with cancer and other life limiting illnesses.

The Rainbow Rooms were built as part of a special project organised by the Cancer Care Trust and are based at the West Berkshire Community Hospital (WBCH). The Rainbow Rooms provide ‘Home from Home’ facilities, combining all the comforts of a private homely room with the latest medical equipment. The Newbury Cancer Care Trust is the parent organisation that supports the Rainbow Rooms and raises funds to equip and maintain the four Rainbow Rooms at the Hospital. www.newburycancercare.org.uk

There are five main points of thrust for the Trust:

• Local Cancer Care Support – in consultation with the NHS and particularly with WBCH, we endeavour to support development needs. Typically we have funded:
  • Provision of a diagnostic Colonoscope unit within the WBCH Endoscopy Unit.
  • Re-equipping the Rainbow Rooms at WBCH.
  • A significant contribution towards provision of hard standing for a mobile screening unit at WBCH.
  • Organising Educational Seminars for Health Care professionals
• Transport – Our volunteer drivers can take patients to various hospitals and clinics throughout the South of England for appointments taking away the added stress of parking and public transport.
• Equipment Loan – a stock of various items of specialist equipment such as riser/recliner chairs, pressure relieving matresses, wheelchairs, commodes and communication equipment is maintained which  can be loaned on a free basis.
• Grants – We appreciate that costs can increase and circumstances can change when going through treatment. We may be able to make small financial grants to help towards some of patients’ household costs in times of hardship.
• Other Services – The Trust also funds the following local services:
  • Aromatherapy
  • Reflexology
  • Physiotherapy and Hydrotherapy
  • Family & Bereavement Support
  • Psychology
  • Education
  • Diversional Therapy
  • Emergency Agency Nursing

In May 2013, the Trust became the parent charity for The Charles Clore Day TherapyUnit at the WestBerksCommunityHospital. We have been supporting the Charles Clore Unit for many years, both financially and practically and it was decided by their charity committee, The Friends of the Charles Clore Unit (FCCU), that they had achieved what they set out to do and approached NDCCT and asked us to take on the responsibility of fully supporting the Unit.

Cancer Statistics

• There are more than 200 types of cancer, each with different causes, symptoms and treatments.
• More than 331,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2011 in the UK, that’s around 910 people every day.
• Every two minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer.
• More than 1 in 3 people in the UK will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime.
• The risk of developing cancer up to the age of 50 years is 1 in 35 for men and 1 in 20 for women.
• Breast, lung, prostate and bowel cancers together account for over half of all new cancers each year.
• Cancer can develop at any age, but is most common in older people. More than a third of cancers are diagnosed in people aged 75 and over.
• Less than one per cent of all cancers in the UK occur in children (aged 0-14).
• Less than one per cent of all cancers in the UK occur in the teenagers and young adults (aged 15-24).
• Overall cancer incidence rates in Great Britain have increased by more than a third since the mid-1970s, with almost this entire rise occurring before the late 1990s.
• Cancer incidence rates in Great Britain have risen by 23% in males and by 43% in females since the mid-1970s.
• There have been large increases in the incidence of many cancers strongly linked to lifestyle, such as kidney, liver, skin (malignant melanoma, oral and uterine (womb).
• In males over the last decade in the UK stomach cancer incidence has decreased by almost a third, and lung cancer incidence has decreased by around a seventh.
• In females over the last decade in the UK, stomach cancer incidence has decreased by more than a quarter, and ovarian cancer incidence has decreased by around a tenth.
• Worldwide there were estimated to be around 14.1 million new cases of cancer in 2012, with incidence rates varying across the world.
• In Europe, there were an estimated 3.44 million new cases of cancer in 2012. The UK incidence rate is 15th lowest in Europe for males and 8th highest for females.
• Cancer is the number one fear for the British public, feared ahead of debt, knife crime, Alzheimer’s disease and losing a job.