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Happy birthday to the Cancer Wellbeing Service - which has notched up its 10^th anniversary.

Located at Peterborough City Hospital, the centre supports anyone affected by cancer and sees around 10,000 people each year.

This is an increase of some 4,000 since the Centre opened its doors it in present format in 2016.

And to mark the milestone, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust staff and volunteers were invited to a birthday breakfast as a thank you for their hard work and dedication.

Lisa Deacon and Rebecca Hardy, Joint Service Managers, said: “We are so incredibly proud of the service we offer and the wonderful staff and volunteers who deliver that service.

“The Centre has been supporting people in its current format since 2016, since undergoing a major transformation to meet the changing needs of cancer patients. In the first year, we had 6,000 visits - and that number has almost doubled in 10 years.

“We are a free service available without referral to anyone affected by cancer and hold hands with the Trusts cancer unit.”

The centre and its gardens provide safe space for patients, their friend, carers and families to meet informally or to seek provisional support.”

Trust Chair, Professor Steve Barnett OBE, also attended the celebrations. He said: “The Cancer Wellbeing Service and its wonderful gardens are a jewel in the crown of our services. The feedback we receive from patients and their families is exemplary. And while the building is beautiful, what is even more beautiful is the care and compassion shown to all the service users.”

The Centre first opened in 1992, and was known as the Robert Horrell Macmillan Centre, and for many years operated as a day unit for patients already receiving hospital care. The building was purchased for £850,000 from fundraising by the local Macmillan team - who handed it over to the hospital.

Today, it offers support for people who are:

• Newly diagnosed with cancer
• Having treatment for cancer
• Recovering from cancer
• Living with Cancer
• Experiencing long term effects after cancer
• Friends, family or colleagues
• Healthcare Professionals 

Specialist staff are available to offer advice and a listening ear. There is also a wide range of support services available, including individual or group support and information sessions, art therapy and other crafting sessions, complementary therapies and counselling sessions for patients and their carers.