Chris’s shining legacy of hope

MAN in a million . . . Chris Hoyle

THE founder of a charity which has brought hope and help to hundreds of Oldham people with cancer, has stepped down from his leading role.

But he has left Oldham Cancer Support Centre with a good foundation and in safe hands to continue its vital work.

Chris Hoyle worked long and hard to turn his dream into a reality after he was left struggling to cope with the prospect of a future with leukaemia.

He floundered for support after his initial intensive treatment ended, and embarked on a campaign to prevent others facing the same fate.

He started by raising money to get his idea off the ground, and invested vast amounts of time looking at services offered in other areas and persuading people to back him.

He secured charity status for his plans almost five years ago, and 12 months later opened Oldham Cancer Support Centre, with the help of an army of volunteers.

Since then, the service, based at Failsworth Primary Care Centre, has gone from strength to strength.

Volunteers offer their time for free, therapists and counsellors work for a small fee, and it has become a lifeline to people trying get their lives back on track.

Chris, who won a Pride in Oldham award for his voluntary work, has seen people with cancer pull the strength to carry on with their lives from the support centre.

And now he feels it is time he too moved on from cancer, pledging to “get back to the person I was before.”

The 52-year-old father-of-three said his own health had been a factor in his decision to step away from Oldham Cancer Support Centre, as well as an increasing need to care for his parents, who are both in their 80s.

But, he said: “The main reason is that I want to move on from cancer.

“I have been living with cancer for more than seven year, and I want to get back to the joiner and decorator I was before I was diagnosed.”

Chris’s gruelling schedule in making the support centre a success saw him regularly work up to ten hours a day,

That level of commitment has taken its toll, and Chris said: “It has consumed my life and that has been the main factor in my deciding to step down.”

He added: “I am very proud of what I have achieved. My objective was to set up a cancer support centre for Oldham and I now feel it is in a position for me to step back from it.

“It is in a good position financially, it has its volunteers and it has its committee, and it will carry on.

“It is still in its early days and there is still a lot of work to do, but I feel the time is right for me to hand it over.”

He added: “I have met some remarkable people who seem to find the courage to deal with cancer without fuss.

“My volunteers have been a wonderful, loyal team, and I send them my sincere thanks.”

Beryl Vale, chairman of Oldham Cancer Support Centre, gave the assurance that the charity would continue.

She said a new manager would be appointed, and until then, board members would share the role.

She said: “We will move on from what Chris has created and hopefully go from strength to strength.

“It takes a lot of energy and courage to set something up like this and Chris is quite rightly proud of it.

“The board, therapists, counsellors and volunteers will all continue with their work, and we all thank Chris for what he has brought to Oldham and wish him well with his health and for the future.”