Your Cancer Awareness hub set to re-open

Hundreds of Oldham residents have tapped into a new nurse-led drop-in facility set up by Cancer Research UK.

Over 800 people visited the Your Cancer Awareness Hub last year, which saw Cancer Research UK nurses stationed at Oldham Library every fortnight.

And almost 200 referrals were made to local services including GPs, stop smoking services and weight management services.

The hub, which reopens next week, was set up to help people know more about how to reduce the risk of cancer and detect it early.

It will now open for its 2018 season at Oldham Library, on Greaves Street, starting on Thursday, April 5, between 12 noon and 6pm when nurses will be offering visitors information on making positive lifestyle changes like stopping smoking, drinking less alcohol, and keeping a healthy weight. 

The hub will take place roughly every fortnight in 2018 on Thursdays including: 19 April, 3 May, 17 May, 31 May, 14 June, 12 July, 9 August, 23 August, 6 September, 20 September, 18 October and November 1,15 and 29.

Visitors can turn up on the day without an appointment or attend fortnightly for up to six repeat visits to get ongoing support or to talk about cancer and pick up information.

Nurses also encourage people to go to their GP with any concerns.

Picking cancer up at an earlier stage means treatment is more likely to be successful.

Each year around 1,200 people are diagnosed with cancer in Oldham.

But experts estimate around four in 10 cases of cancer could be prevented in the UK, largely through healthier lifestyles.

Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Nurse Manager Ceri Eames said: “The service has proved incredibly successful since our launch in Oldham in 2017 and it is always very rewarding when people come back to tell us that they have now given up smoking completely or stuck to a new healthy lifestyle like taking up running or walking to work.

“We are proud to re-launch this year’s Cancer Research UK’s Your Cancer Awareness Hub for 2018 and look forward to getting information out to as many people as possible across Oldham in the months to come in a convenient location as they go about their busy lives.

“Cancer is a disease which has affected almost everyone in some way so the opening of this new hub will be of great benefit to the local and wider community.

“We hope our regular presence in the community will encourage people to take on board cancer awareness messages.

"It will allow us to follow up with visitors when needed and we can guide them along the way, helping them to act on their intentions and take positive action as a result.

“We will be providing, ‘Your journey’ cards and action plans to help people think about the health goals they’d like to work towards and track their progress towards these.”

The hub is part of Cancer Research UK’s continued programme to make health information as accessible as possible to the public.

Cancer Research UK nurses have met over 600,000 people since launching their community Cancer Awareness Roadshows in 2006 and adding their Your Cancer Awareness Hubs in 2016.

To find out more about how to reduce the risk of cancer and detect it early, visit cruk.org/spotcancerearly

To find out more about the Cancer Awareness Hubs visit www.cancerawarenessroadshow.org.uk