More support and socialising in Glasgow! Local Cancer Community Meet-ups - November 2023

3 minute read time.
More support and socialising in Glasgow! Local Cancer Community Meet-ups - November 2023

Back by popular demand! If you're in the Glasgow area and you fancy chatting face-to-face with other people affected by cancer, we have another great opportunity to make some new friends. Following the initial run of 'Cancer Community Meet-ups' over the summer months, Macmillan are proud to announce another run over the late autumn/early winter period.

These in-person events intend to build supportive communities of people local to the area they're hosted in. To avoid confusing them with our Online Community, we'll refer to these events as 'Local Cancer Community Meet-ups' here.

If you would like to discuss attending this event with other members of the Online Community, please don't forget that our Community Guidelines still apply. We ask members not to share contact details or make specific meeting plans on the public forums. The Private Messaging system is a better way to discuss plans safely. Please see our guide to Private Messages and Friends for more details.

With the introduction out of the way, here's what you need to know...

What are Local Cancer Community Meet-ups?

Local Cancer Community Meet-ups are an opportunity to meet with other people living with cancer from the local area in a relaxed and comfortable space. You can contribute in a way that works for you. That might be listening to others, taking time to reflect, sharing your own experiences, frustrations, or indeed anything else – it doesn’t have to be about cancer.

We believe simply being around others who understand what you’re going through can really help and it may be reassuring to meet others with similar thoughts and feelings. We hope you'll find some benefit in these conversations and even being there to listen can be a huge support to others.

When you have cancer it can change everything, including your relationships and the way people talk to you. You may feel everyone around you always wants to know how you’re doing or is starting to treat you differently. At Macmillan we want to create a Local Cancer Community where people living with cancer can come together and find support in one another.

Upcoming events in Glasgow

Macmillan is running a number of meet-ups in the Glasgow area, and we'd love to see you there. There’s no need to book in advance or to give us any of your contact details on the day. Just turn up at the venue at the date and time listed below. The next three meet-ups are on:

  • Thursday 2 November, 9:30am
  • Thursday 23 November, 9:30am
  • Thursday 14 December, 9:30am

What to expect on the day

The events are really informal. There’s no need to register to attend, or to give us any of your details on the day. There are no speeches from Macmillan or anyone else, and no commitments needed from you. Just join us at the start time, stay and chat as long as you want, and leave when you’re ready. The meet-ups provide:

  • A comfortable space to chat and listen.
  • The opportunity to meet others who are going through similar experiences.
  • An informal environment in a central location with teas, coffees and refreshments provided.

Where is it hosted?

Costa Coffee are supporting Local Cancer Community Meet-ups by hosting the events at their premises. You can read more about our partnership at the following link: Our partnership with Costa Coffee

All of the above meet-ups take place in the same central location:

Costa Coffee store
208/212 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
G2 3EF

See the venue location on Google Maps here: Costa Coffee, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

The venue is fully accessible and refreshments will be provided free of charge.

Get in touch about the event

If you have any questions about how to find the event, what to expect on the day, or anything else related to Local Cancer Community Meet-ups, please get in touch on VolunteerMarketing@macmillan.org.uk.

Anonymous
  • Sounds good, will pop along to one of the dates for a chat 

  • Hi , that's great to hear! I hope it's a good experience, feel free to let us know how you found it.

  • Are the meetings just for people going through the cancer journey. Or open to people going through the bereavement process too?

  • Hi , thanks for your question, and I'm sorry to hear you're going through the bereavement process at the moment.

    I just took a look at the information on the Community Meet-ups page, and I got the sense the sessions might be more focussed on people living with a cancer diagnosis. I don't know that for certain, so I have asked the team who organise theses events for clarification. I will get back to you with a definitive answer as soon as I hear from them, if that's ok?

    In the meantime, I just wanted to make sure you knew about some of the other bereavement support resources that are available, in addition to the ones mentioned in our email sent to you in September.

    If you're interested in face-to-face support, you might like to make use of our “Macmillan in Your Area” website. Once you have entered your location or postcode and pressed the ‘Go’ button, you should see a set of filter options on the left side of the page. If you tick the ‘Practical help and support groups’ option, you will see just the results where you can access face-to-face support. To get started, please visit Macmillan - In Your Area.

    If you would like to speak to a trained grief counsellor about how you are feeling, I can recommend talking to Cruse Bereavement on 0808 808 1677. Alternatively, you can email them at helpline@cruse.org.uk.

    As always, our Macmillan Support Line teams are also here for you. They’re available from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week, on freephone 0808 808 00 00, by email, or via live webchat.

    I hope that all makes sense and is helpful. Once I hear back from the Meet-ups team, I'll let you know. If you need anything else before then, please feel free to reply here, or you can send the Online Community Team an email directly at community@macmillan.org.uk.

    Sincere best wishes,
    Matthew
    Macmillan Online Community Team