Macmillan charity wants to be there for every person diagnosed with cancer

We’ve reached December of a very different year to what we thought it would be at the start! This month I wanted to share with you a project we’ve been working on…

Right now, there are around 179,000 people living with cancer across Yorkshire. When coronavirus hit, thousands of vital cancer treatments and appointments were postponed or cancelled. The consequences of this disruption to cancer services are impossible to ignore. Macmillan have recently launched an appeal in Yorkshire, and the charity want to be there for every person diagnosed with cancer in the region.

Like many charities, Macmillan has faced a dramatic drop in income. Whilst many fundraising events and activities stopped, cancer didn’t. Ahead of our flagship Coffee Morning event in September, registrations and potential fundraising were down by more than two-thirds across the country, meaning a shortfall of around £20million. At a time when we needed to be there for people living with cancer more than ever, we faced an uncertain future. In Doncaster alone, the drop in fundraising through Coffee Morning was expected to be even greater, at around 74% less than 2019.

But, with your help, Macmillan can still support people living with cancer in the region. Every donation received will stay in Yorkshire, whether that is funding our Macmillan nurses or providing vital financial support to those who need it. Every donation, no matter how small, can help make a big difference in our area – visit www.macmillan.org.uk/yorkshireappealWith Christmas just around the corner, particularly this year it is vitally important we #ReachOut to those we perhaps take for granted. It’s an opportunity to think about what’s important; in a year when being in each other’s company has been so difficult, isn’t time together the greatest gift of all?

We’ve all had to adapt this year, for those of us living with cancer, this has brought further anxiety and trepidation to an already challenging present and uncertain future.

This Christmas, Macmillan Cancer Support wants you to take a step back and focus on what’s special to all of us, something that comes more naturally at Christmas than at any other time of year. Reach out to your family and friends to show them that they matter and they’re on your mind.

We want people to know we are still here for them should they need us. Macmillan Support Line can help with clinical, practical and financial information for all those affected by and living with cancer. Please call us on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm).

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us this year through fundraising or volunteering. People have really gone above and beyond to help wherever they can and we really do appreciated everyone’s support.

I’m sending best wishes this Christmas to all readers of the Doncaster Free Press and hoping 2021 is a happy and healthy new year for all.

If anyone would like to get in touch, please call me 07710 307050 or email [email protected].

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.