About Us | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

We are a Cambridge charity offering support for local people diagnosed with cancer, and their families. The Centre offers a wide range of support including courses, 1:1 complementary therapies, specialist support groups and social activities. These are open to anyone at any stage of their cancer journey.

The Centre is located in The David Rayner Building at Scotsdales Garden Centre in Great Shelford. Generously built for them, the building offers three fully equipped therapy rooms and spacious areas for support groups and social activities. The Centre also benefits from free parking and excellent access, air purifiers and air conditioning and provides a safe and comfortable environment to meet. “We are sincerely grateful to the Rayner family and the Scotsdales Charitable Foundation” for their support in the establishment and ongoing running of the Centre.

Day to day management of the Centre is the responsibility of the Centre Team who offer a welcoming face and listening ear to everyone who visits. The team explain what the Centre has to offer and explore ways in which the Centre can provide appropriate help and support.

Everyone is welcome

At the Centre, people can speak openly in a warm and friendly environment. Indeed, the sense of a “safe haven”, psychological encouragement, friendship and mutual support – being able to give as well as receive – are seen as some of the most valuable benefits the Centre has to offer.

In our community there are excellent hospitals, doctors and nurses and we work to maintain links with the local services that provide diagnosis, treatment and hospice care. However, there are often long periods between visits to the clinic, between diagnosis and treatment, in the intervals of treatment and after the course of treatment is completed during which those concerned can feel anxious, depressed and alone. We aim to fill these gaps.

We are based in The David Rayner Building in the picturesque grounds of Scotsdales Garden Centre in Great Shelford, which is within easy reach of Addenbrookes Hospital and benefits from free parking. The spacious general areas and the three fully equipped therapy rooms are fitted with air purifiers and air conditioning to ensure a safe and comfortable environment.

Day to day management of the Centre is the responsibility of the Centre Team. They offer a welcoming face and listening ear to everyone who visits. They explain why the Centre has to offer and explore ways in which we can provide appropriate help and support.

As an organisation, however, we do not provide medical advice or treatment. If you would like to know more, please contact our Centre Management Team on 01223 840105 or have a look at the Support Courses, 1:1 Complementary Therapies, and Activities we offer.

Support for you | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Support for You

Therapies | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

1:1 Therapies

Activities | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Activities

Centre Team

Day-to-day running of the Centre is the responsibility of our Centre Team supported by trained volunteers.

The most important aspect of the team’s role is to be a welcoming face and listening ear for everyone who visits. We aim to make each person feel comfortable and at ease and offer practical and emotional support at what can be a difficult and frightening time.

In recent times, demand for the services offered by the Centre has increased significantly and continues to do so and we are now seeing opportunities to grow and move towards our goal of being open and available five days a week.

However, to achieve this requires funding so membership subscriptions, legacies, donations and other sources of funding are critical to our success. We will be increasing our focus on fundraising and events to enable the Centre to continue to run – and to move towards our goal to support more people with a wider range
of services, activities and events.

Julie Paterson | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Julie Paterson

Charity Manager

I am very excited to be the Charity Manager for the Cambridge Cancer Help Centre. It is very clear to see how much everyone involved, including all of our members, value what the Centre has to offer and the support that they receive. I am privileged to be part of this growing community and supporting the Trustees with their vision on taking this forward and being able to reach out to everyone who is suffering with or has suffered with their cancer diagnosis. I am based at the Centre from Monday to Wednesday and available to help anyone who needs me.

Board of Trustees &
Advisors to the Board

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall governance and development of the Centre.
In addition to these legal responsibilities, some Trustees play an active part in the running of
the Centre, delivering courses or therapies and supporting the Centre Team and our volunteers.

Advisors support the Trustees in their responsibility for the governance and development of
the Centre. Appointed by the Board, they bring specialist skills or longstanding experience.

Ted Sage | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Ted Sage

Trustee

A Chartered Engineer, Ted worked for several large companies in senior operations roles in the UK and the Far East and is pleased to be able to use his skills and, now extensive experience of the Centre, to support the next phase of development and growth. Ted became a Trustee in 2008 and was elected Chair in 2010.

Bob Jackson | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Bob Jackson

Trustee & Treasurer

Before retirement, Bob worked for nearly 40 years in finance. He was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in 2000 but, thanks to successful treatment, is still here. He has been the Centre’s Honorary Treasurer since 2009.

Janet Hickman | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Janet Hickman

Trustee

Janet has run the Macmillan courses at the Centre for 9 years. She is a Macmillan HOPE Facilitator and Assessor, an Expert Patients Programme Facilitator and has recently been trained to be a Macmillan Lead Trainer. She became a Trustee in 2011

Claire Mackenzie | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Claire Mackenzie

Trustee

Claire is an experienced therapist and has been volunteering her services at the Centre since 2016. Before becoming a therapist, she worked in sports TV production and for a sports charity in both logistics and production management. Over the years, she has been involved with a variety of charities primarily organising events and fund raising and has a particular interest in environmental issues. She is a mother of three boys and enjoys playing sport. Claire became a Trustee in 2019.

Arthur Gibbons | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Arthur Gibbons

Trustee

Arthur was a director of three energy businesses and chaired many energy conferences during his career. On retirement he has volunteered for Macmillan cancer support and for CUH Addenbrookes hospital as well as becoming a trustee at the Centre. A keen athlete in his day he continues to support the sport as well as being, for his sins a season ticket holder at Cambridge United.

Dick Dickinson | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Dick Dickinson

Trustee

Dick is a retired consultant physician who came to Cambridge in 1980 .After 4 years at Addenbrookes he moved to the newly opened Hinchingbrooke Hospital to establish a Gastroenterology service. In the last part of his career he was Medical Director. He sees the CCHC as a unique and valuable resource and is committed to its success.

Professor Robert Thomas | Cambridge Cancer Help Centre | Cancer Support For You

Professor Robert Thomas

Our Patron

Professor Robert Thomas is a Consultant Oncologist at the Primrose Oncology Unit, Bedford and Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge specialising in breast, skin, colorectal and prostate cancer. He is also Professor of Biological & Exercise Science at Coventry University, a Senior Clinical Tutor at Cambridge University and visiting Professor at the University of Bedfordshire.

Author of the book Lifestyle after Cancer, he is medical advisor for the lifestyle and cancer website cancernet.co.uk and the general lifestyle site keep-healthy.com.
He has been lead speaker at our annual Wellbeing Conference since its inception
in 2014.

Whilst embracing mainstream oncology research, he has a special academic interest in the evaluation of nutritional, lifestyle and self-help strategies after cancer and has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers. He has designed numerous UK Randomized Clinical Trials including the world’s largest evaluation of a polyphenol-rich nutritional supplement in men with prostate cancer (pomi-T study).

He was an author for the evidence review for the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative and designed the UK’s first government-approved qualification in exercise rehabilitation for cancer patients, now delivered nationally by The Wright Foundation. He has been awarded The British Oncology Association’s Oncologist of the Year and Hospital Doctor magazine’s Doctor of the Year as well as the Royal College’s Frank Ellis Medal.

He is an editorial member of the National Cancer Research Network clinical trials development committee, the National Institute of Health clinical trials advisory committee and the British Society for Integrative Oncology. As well as being chair of the Exercise Expert Advisory Committee, media spokesperson for Macmillan and advisor for a number of Channel 5 documentaries, he is editor of the monthly Lifestyle & Cancer news series and author of an active weekly blog both of which can be accessed through his website www.cancernet.co.uk.