Sunday 4 February is World Cancer Day, an annual event designed to raise awareness of cancer-related issues across the globe.
By highlighting the challenges that people with a cancer diagnosis face, and by advocating for continual improvement in cancer information, treatment, and care, World Cancer Day aims to help get cancer issues prioritised by governments and healthcare bodies alike.
This year’s World Cancer Day theme is ‘Close the Care Gap’. There are many complex factors that contribute to unequal outcomes for people with cancer across the globe. Perhaps the most fundamental barrier to getting support is also the most obvious – if you don’t know what support is available, you aren’t going to be able to take advantage of it!
Fortunately, spreading knowledge to those who need it is something that all of us can help with. So, whether you are someone looking for help and support with a cancer diagnosis, or you know someone who just doesn’t know where to start, we hope this guided tour of Macmillan’s support offering will serve as a good first step.
The Macmillan Support Line is the main way you can talk to our friendly, knowledgeable, and compassionate staff. We have various teams who specialise in their own specific subjects. Don’t worry if you’re not sure which team you need to speak to – we can always transfer you if you need to speak to someone else.
To get in touch with any of our Support Line Teams, simply call our freephone number on 0808 808 00 00. Our Support Line is open from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. Once you’re connected, you’ll hear a list of the teams you can speak to. Follow the instructions to select the team you require and then when the next adviser is available, you’ll be put through.
You can also contact our Support Line Teams by sending them an email, or starting a live webchat.
If you’re a first-time caller, our General Information and Support Team is an excellent place to start. Just call them and tell them what’s going on. They’ll help you to break down the challenges you’re facing into more manageable chunks, and they can help with getting the right support arranged.
They are also there if you just need to tell someone how you’re feeling. You can talk to them without judgement, and they will be there to listen with a friendly and supportive ear. They can also recommend how to get further emotional support, if you need it.
Next, we have our Nurse Specialist Team. Staffed by our qualified Cancer Information Nurse Specialists, they’re the team to contact for all questions relating to tests, diagnosis, treatment, and medication. Our Nurse Team don’t have access to your specific medical records, and they won’t have specific knowledge of the staff or departments who are treating you. However, if you have a question about any stage of the cancer care process, they can put your mind at rest with an understandable overview of what comes next, practical things to consider, and how you can manage symptoms and side-effects.
If you’re looking for help with money worries, our Welfare Rights Team are the people to talk to. They can help you identify what kinds of financial support might be available to you, and they can help you with advice on how to apply for it. If you have questions about Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payments, Employment and Support Allowance, or Macmillan grants, they’re ready and waiting to help.
For help and advice with the rising costs of energy, it’s no surprise that we have an Energy Advice Team. Our Energy Advisers can help you work out which support schemes you might be eligible for, and they can help you deal with electricity, gas, and water companies.
For help with planning your finances, managing your money, and making sure your estate is in order, our Financial Guidance Team are on-hand to support you. They can offer you advice on budgeting your money, managing mortgage costs, pensions, insurance, wills, and managing debt.
Last and by no means least, we have our Work Support Service. They’re the team to talk to if you are worried about how a cancer diagnosis might affect your employment, and they can help you work with your employer to ensure they are making reasonable adjustments to accommodate you. If you have questions about sick pay, time off, and job security, they will be happy to help. They can even advise you on how to get one-off legal advice when it comes to employment law matters.
The Macmillan website hosts hundreds of high-quality articles covering all aspects of the cancer journey. We are proud to carry the Patient Information Forum ‘PIF TICK’, which means we’re accredited as a trusted provider of safe and verified health information.
Our Cancer Information and Support hub contains articles on the various cancer types, treatment options, medicines, and surgical procedures. We also carry information on the potential emotional impacts associated with receiving a cancer diagnosis.
Whether you have a cancer diagnosis yourself, or you’ve been impacted by a friend or loved one’s cancer diagnosis, these articles serve as an excellent introduction to the topics they cover, and they provide links on how to get further help. They’re well worth checking out!
As well as our information and support resources, the Macmillan website also has an area dedicated to our Cancer Information and Support Blogs.
Written by our talented Content Team and our Clinical Staff, they cover topics such as how stories in the news are impacting people with cancer, what’s going on at Macmillan, and tips on how to overcome the various challenges making the headlines at the moment. Take a look at some of these great examples:
While good information is essential, sometimes what you really need is some human connection. We have some excellent emotional support resources linked from our website, primarily focussing on one-to-one and in-person support services:
We’ve covered getting solid information, receiving expert advice, and local in-person support services. There’s one more thing that Macmillan provides which is always open, accessible from anywhere, and full of wonderful people. It’s our Macmillan Online Community!
The Cancer community forums are the beating heart of our Online Community. They’re a place for people to come together and support one another in a safe, friendly, and honest environment.
You can share your experiences, let out how you’re feeling, or simply swap tips and advice with people who understand. No matter what time of the day, no matter what day of the year, you’ll always find a warm welcome here!
To talk to other Community members who have a similar diagnosis to your own, you can join one of our cancer type forum groups. You’re welcome to join any of the groups that apply to your diagnosis. You can find the full list by clicking on that last link. Some of our busiest cancer type forums include:
We also have forum groups dedicated to a variety of different support situations. If you have a look at our cancer experience forum groups, you’ll see there are spaces to discuss many different situations and topics. Here are some popular examples:
If you don’t fancy getting in touch with our Support Line staff using telephone, email, or webchat, you can always post in our Ask an Expert forums. We have a selection of forum groups reserved for getting replies from relevant Macmillan staff:
If you would like to journal your thoughts, feelings, and experiences for yourself or others to look back on, you can use our dedicated Blogs feature to write your very own blog.
Staff from our Support Line Teams also publish regular news, hints, and tips blogs using our blog platform. Here is a selection of recent posts as an example of what they cover:
Finally, we have our Online Community news blogs, written by members of the Online Community Team. They often focus on sharing impactful quotes from Community members around a particular theme, as well as providing guides with help and advice on common experiences we see discussed. Here are some great recent examples:
If you’d like to start using the Online Community, please check out our illustrated step-by-step guide.
If you’re some way along the cancer diagnosis journey, perhaps you’d like to share some of your wisdom with other members? Dylan from the Online Community Team has a blog covering this subject.
He asked the Community a very simple but deep question: What do you wish you’d known at the start of your diagnosis? Why not give this fascinating blog a read, and post your own thoughts for others to learn from?
We hope this guided tour has been useful. Please feel free to share this introduction to Macmillan’s support options with anyone who needs it.
If you need any support using the Online Community, please contact the Online Community Team by sending an email to community@macmillan.org.uk
