Archive for the cancer charities Category

Work And Breast Cancer, The Uncomfortable Truth!

Chris On July 22, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 17 Comments

Unfortunately, the future of our cancer care lies with very flaky politicians, fully employed in fighting Brexit. Alongside them are giant healthcare organisations that choose the path of least resistance, attempting to find favour with the individuals in office at the time. Millions gets spent every year by charities to lobby Government for whatever is their campaign at the time. Even today, we are still asking politicians to scrap hospital parking costs! A subject that was being discussed eleven years ago when I was first diagnosed. The reality of the urgent problems is being lost, maybe this is intentional? When I was approached by Dr Dianne Dowling to share her fully researched evidence I was delighted to have the difficult facts to share. This is just a small part of the

This Is A Cancer Scandal Happening Daily, Why?

Chris On May 27, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 11 Comments

This week I wanted to share this story written by Rohan Silva in the Evening Standard. It echoes exactly my own experiences with NHS AND giant cancer charities. There are so many people out there with incredibly innovative ideas that cost little to implement but the doors are shut in our face. Why is that when we all know how poor cancer services are in the UK. My experience is that this is much worse than what is portrayed in this article and is a scandal in the making!! “It’s always great to come across a man — or a woman — on a mission. Michael Seres is one of those people. When he was 12 he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an incurable bowel condition, and his health sadly

Why It’s Time To Pout For A Purpose!

Chris On May 24, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / Leave a comment

It is a great honour for me to host the below blog. It is exclusively written by the wonderful Athena Lamnisos CEO of the Eve Appeal who do such incredible work. I am always happy to get involved with these guys as they are a small but very impactful charity. Collaboration means a lot to us both, and I have been involved throughout the month with their #GetLippy campaign. In this piece Athena tells us more. “The history of the instantly recognisable pink ribbon is an interesting one. The idea came from a grassroots campaign led by a breast cancer activist, who wanted a symbol to highlight the issue that a mere 5% of the United States’ National Cancer Institute budget (of $1.8 billion) was dedicated to cancer prevention. That

We Are Stuck On The Cancer Care Roundabout!

Chris On May 20, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 5 Comments

When I ask my friends how their work is going the most popular response is “same s..t different day!” Working in the area of cancer support, I now experience that. The people are wonderful, so no problems there but when talking to those who are well paid to find solutions in the sector, I am hit by a terrible feeling of deja vu. Professional conferences that cost a lot of money, all take a very similar format. Guest speakers, PowerPoint slides showing that things will be better in the future. There are generally very few patients invited to attend, who are then made to feel grateful for what they receive, from whichever organisation is running it. Every year we are promised things will be better. The analogy I can use

Does The Cancer World NEED The ‘Fear Factor’ For Income?

Chris On May 13, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 12 Comments

During my visit to Palestine, the one very shocking thing that I quickly became aware of, was that everyone I met thought their cancer was a death sentence. This is something that has followed down the generations and will take a long time to change. But the facts are quite different from that. Naturally there are many issues there that make things difficult, but so many more of us are living with cancer, than dying of it. Obviously the earlier the disease is detected the better chance of survival we have. I have come from the generation where cancer (The Big C) as it was known was certainly not discussed openly in my family. My Dad died of bowel cancer and my Mum had breast cancer and survived for more

Sharing Cancer Experiences In Jerusalem And Palestine

Chris On April 29, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 4 Comments

Cancer has taken so much from me, and on many occasions I couldn’t see what the ‘new me’ could give to the world. Lacking so many of the ‘ingredients’ that made up the ‘old me,’ I struggled to find any enthusiasm to carry on. But now I find myself at the centre of the incredible changes that are happening in the cancer world. Patients are finding their voice and finally healthcare is listening. This is not just in the UK but across the world. Innovation is happening quickly and it seems like the clunky corporates are being replaced with caring community organisations, as it is finally seen that a large one size fits all approach is no longer appropriate. I have just returned from a trip to Palestine and Jerusalem,

Are The Giant Charity Brands Exhausting Their Trust?

Chris On March 11, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment / 4 Comments

As most of you are well aware, I am concerned about the way many of our giant cancer charities behave towards the people they purport to help. Working in a dictatorial manner backed up by aggressive advertising, funded by many trusting donors. Much of my work involves charities and my own experience shows me clearly two types. The ones that work very closely with others and those that don’t, who are now beginning to be isolated and out of touch despite their current income! The most dangerous thing that I see, is that these are the largest ones, and I believe that their loud voices, backed by a never ending stream of all channel advertising, are strangling innovation. They believe they know best and they will give you only their

The Gift Of Growing Up

Chris On February 4, 2018 / cancer awareness, cancer charities, Cancer Support, cancer survival, cancer treatment, social media and cancer support / Leave a comment

I can’t believe that I am approaching the age of sixty two. Not just because of my illness, but in general how quickly my life has gone. Since the incredible gift of my grandchildren, I am reliving my youth for the third time, having lived it on my own initially, then with my own sons afterwards. My parents lived through the war, and saw life totally different to the way I am now. We had to struggle for every penny and were one of the last in the street to have a television, phone and car. Difficult to remember that I have seen those times. When I went to school I saw the opportunity of breaking away from the cycle of poverty that my parents had lived. I rebelled against