Last Big Push For Funds- Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre

Only £500,000 to go in fundraising drive for new £5.96m Sussex Centre

A new Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre has come even closer to completion, with the reaching of a major fundraising milestone

With just £500,000 left to raise, the innovative information and support centre will soon be benefiting thousands of people living with cancer across Sussex.

Since June 2010, the centre appeal has raised over £3m, thanks to the many fundraising events that have taken place across the region. From coffee mornings to sponsored salsa classes and much more besides, the county has been busy showing its support and generosity.

Fundraisers from Macmillan Cancer Support are delighted at the landmark; Sarah Coxhill, Macmillan’s fundraising manager for Sussex, said:

“The support of Sussex residents has been vital to this project – we have almost reached our goal, so the region should be really proud of the fantastic sum that has been raised so far.

We are now very close to the fundraising finish line, which is really exciting, but we need one last push to get there. Macmillan wants to make sure no one has to face cancer alone, however we can’t reach that final target without the amazing people who fundraise for us.

Sussex resident and Macmillan fundraiser, Della Lamden welcomes the addition of the new centre as a much needed resource for the region:

“When I was given my first diagnosis, I had so many questions that desperately needed answering. I needed people to talk to – non-clinical professionals who could explain what was going on in my body and what would happen over the coming months. Psychologically I had fallen into a black hole, until I met Gill, my Macmillan nurse.

“Gill had all the skills, knowledge and extra compassion I’d been missing. There was hardly anything she couldn’t help me with. From dealing with the financial impact of cancer to coping with the fear, she was just incredible.”

Della continues; “to have ONE place, where patients and carers can go to aid them through their cancer journey is an overdue facility that is sorely needed in Sussex.”

Della Lamden received support from Macmillan throughout her treatment and is now Chair of the Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre’s Service User Group.

Work to build the £5.96m Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre is well underway with the demolition of Rosaz House now complete. The centre is on schedule to open in the autumn of 2015 and will provide all round support for people affected by cancer. It will also offer a base for outreach and information and support services across the county.

Macmillan is working in partnership with the Sussex Cancer Fund and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust to build the Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre. It will be situated close to the Sussex Cancer Centre where cancer patients receive treatment, at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Specially designed by experts and people affected by cancer, the centre will provide a holistic service in a calm, non-clinical environment. The Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre will offer specialist information and quality resources, welfare benefits advice, counselling services, complementary therapies, body image support services, a café and dietary advice to over 60,000 people currently living with and beyond cancer in Sussex, as well as to their family, friends and carers.

To get involved and help raise the final £500,000 to build The Sussex Macmillan Cancer Support Centre please call the Macmillan Sussex fundraising office on 01273 746601 or emaileastsussex@macmillan.org.uk.  Once the centre is up and running, donations from the people of Sussex will also be welcome to support the centre’s ongoing work.