New Macmillan centre targets BME communities
Written by Musmirah_Shahzada on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 14:21
Launched at the Vaisakhi celebrations in Southall
Following the success of its national tour which has been touring the UK since 2001, Macmillan Cancer Support launched its first regional mobile information Centre in April this year.
It was felt that a smaller more compact Centre specifically targeting the London, Anglia & South East Region (LASER) would provide an opportunity for Macmillan to target and identify with communities and locations that had not been reached with the UK Tour, by delivering a service to the very heart of local communities.
Whilst the Centre is available for anyone affected by cancer within the LASER region, the project specifically aims to target older people and people from Black and minority ethnic communities, who form a significant percentage of the region's population. Research shows that for both these groups there are significant barriers to accessing appropriate information and support. With around 65% of new cancer diagnosis occurring in the over 65s and individuals from BME communities often detecting cancer symptoms at a later stage, this targeted approach is particularly pertinent.
The Centre offers information and support from trained Macmillan information professionals, as well as local visiting Macmillan specialists or nurses, on any aspect of living with cancer. It's free, private and visitors don't need an appointment.
"The Centre holds a wide range of information on local and national cancer services and many aspects of living with cancer, which visitors can take away with them" says Jenny Snell, Project Manager for the Macmillan Information Centre. "Some people simply want to come on the Centre to talk things through and we are there to provide a listening ear too. Visitors can also find out about local support groups where they can talk to other people affected by cancer.
The Macmillan Information Centre launched at the Vaisakhi celebrations in Southall, a special celebration that brought around 30,000 people to the area from around the region, which gave them the chance to get cancer information out to one of their target audiences. The service reached 212 people during the visit and the vast majority were people from the Punjabi community who had the opportunity to come and talk to a Punjabi speaking health professional.
The tour runs from April to November for three years and will be visiting many diverse communities and events but this brings with it its own challenges. According to Ms Snell, "The lack of cancer information which is produced in languages other than English will continue to be an obstacle and we are reliant on our colleagues at Macmillan and partner organisations to identify local volunteers to work on the Centre, who are able to translate the locally spoken languages (where required) as well as having the expertise to provide cancer information and support. However we will continue to try to forge strong links in the local communities and to ensure that our service visits areas where the need is great."
If you would like to see the areas where we are visiting click here , or contact Jenny Snell (Project Manager) on 020 8222 9043.
If you are unable to visit the centre and would like cancer information or support, please call the Macmillan CancerLine on freephone 0808 808 2020 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm), textphone 0808 808 0121, email cancerline@macmillan.org.uk or via www.macmillan.org.uk.
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