Survivor Bev calls for public support

Macmillan nurse Bev Prescott

Chronicle and Macmillan Have a Good Day campaign

EVENING Chronicle readers are being urged to pull out all the stops to give local people with cancer a good day.

The newspaper has teamed up with Macmillan Cancer Support in the Give a Good Day appeal, in a bid to touch the lives of as many Oldham people with cancer as possible.

Readers are being asked to raise £369 — the cost of a Macmillan grant which will go to a local person with cancer in the hope of making a difference to their lives.

Oldham Macmillan nurse Bev Prescott has experienced cancer from both sides of the fence, and told her story to help win public support for the appeal.

Bev knows only too well how a grant from the charity can make an enormous difference, and truly give someone a good day.

She is now a specialist palliative-care nurse for the charity, and was working towards that goal when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003.

Her world turned upside down, she underwent surgery, followed by chemotherapy in Oldham and radiotherapy at Manchester’s Christie Hospital, which meant she had to make the journey every day for three weeks.

She said: “I can say from first-hand experience just what a difference a Macmillan financial grant makes, as I was given a grant of £300 towards my travel costs.

“Having been off work for several months, my income was drastically reduced and this grant took away a lot of my concerns of how I was going to afford the cost of travelling on a daily basis. It is difficult enough going through the treatments that cancer brings without added financial worries.”

Bev added: “My cancer experience made me evaluate my life and spurred me on to follow my dream of working in palliative care.

“I was working as a ward sister and, fortunately upon my return to work, an opportunity arose for me to apply to be part of the Macmillan palliative-care team, something which I have always wanted to do.

“This also gave me the opportunity to give something back and help to make a difference.”

Bev is based at the Royal Oldham Hospital, where the team works in a unique way, caring for people both in hospital and in the community.

The Macmillan way of nursing gives patients continuity as the same nurse will continue to see them throughout their cancer journey.

Bev said: “This campaign is very close to my heart because I see on a daily basis the hardship that patients are going through. A Macmillan grant helps to take away the worry of how you are going to pay a particular bill. They really do make a tremendous difference.

“I received a grant for my travel costs but these grants are for whatever is important to the individual patient. It could be to buy a washing machine, or new clothing for someone who has lost weight through their treatment, or a short convalescent break in the UK.”