One of the more positive things when it comes to cancer is the sheer amount of support and charities available out there. Currently in the UK, there are more than 160,000 different charities and organisations who are dedicated to helping people who are suffering with the disease, as well as their families and loved ones that help them.
These charities always perform well by continually helping to raise awareness of cancer in society. Without them there would be a sheer lack in knowledge of the disease, and how it affects us as individuals. They help many people understand it’s ok to have cancer and that it is normal and possible to live with. These charities also do a good job at bringing people together who have lost loved ones, which is truly wonderful to help them get over their loss and at the same time do something good for others.
Some of the biggest names in the industry, and who have been consistent in providing help for a number of years are MacMillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie, Shine and Bloodwise.
These organisations help to bring joy back into people’s lives by offering a range of different services and fundraising events.
MacMillan Cancer Support
MacMillan Cancer support are a charity which help people to live better with cancer. They offer volunteering, campaigns, and many fundraising events. They also provide several short courses on wellbeing and living with cancer. One of their most famous and well-known events are their marathons which take place up and down the UK. These events make real differences to people and families living with cancer and also help bring people together.
Cancer Research UK are a charity who want to beat cancer sooner. Not only are they a charity that offers volunteering, donations, charity shops and help for sufferers, but they also fund lifesaving research into all aspects of cancer from the causes to prevention and of course treatment.
Shine
Shine are dedicated to helping those cancer patients aged under 50. Their aim is to create a community of young adults who suffer from the disease in order to bring them closer together and provide them the support they need. This is such a wonderful charity because when a younger person has cancer, they may feel isolated more and something like this helps to perk them up. They provide peer support and organise several events and activities so that people can get together.
Teenage cancer trust
Another charity which is dedicated to even younger individuals is the teenage cancer trust. They aim to help all those with cancer in their teenage years, which are some of the most important years in a person’s lifetime. Therefore their presence is really beneficial to sufferers and support is vital. They are known to organise special live music gigs with celebrities which are favoured by many. As well as this, they are a charity who offer some fantastic fundraising opportunities, which includes; triathlon, trekking, skydiving, zip lining and much more.
Marie Curie
Marie Cure is another charity which offers support to those people with a terminal illness, such as cancer. They help people who are living with terminal illness by providing home nursing help, and help to deal with many different symptoms. They help with planning ahead for the end of life and also some of the more upsetting situations such as making a will and organ donations. They also provide hospices with expert care and support as well as home helper services by their volunteers.
Bloodwise
Bloodwise is focused on world class research into blood cancer. Their aim is to alter the lives of leukaemia, myeloma and other types of cancer sufferer for the better thanks to ground-breaking research with an eye to social care too.
All of these cancer support charities provide wonderful services and are crucial when it comes to supporting those suffering from the disease. When being diagnosed, people can often feel quite lonely and having somewhere to find peace and to connect with others is definitely a good thing.
This together with fundraising to fund better research opportunities, really helps keep people feeling positive, and gives slight hope for the future of cancer patients.