It’s been a busy summer for our Big Purple Bus team!

As we approach the first birthday of our Big Purple Bus project which takes our support services into the community, we’re taking a look at all the places we’ve been over the past few months.

Two new regular locations

Back in May we launched two new locations for the regular Big Purple Bus schedule; Parson Cross and Firvale.

The Big Purple Bus visits Margetson Road in Parson Cross on the last Wednesday of every month (9am-5pm) and is outside Firvale Community Hub on the first Tuesday of every month (2-5pm).

Our team has been collaborating with Gulnaz Hussain from Firvale Community Hub to bring cancer support services to her local community.

Gulnaz Hussain, from Firvale Community Hub, said: “It’s been fantastic having the Big Purple Bus in Firvale and directly outside the Community Hub. We’ve been directing people from the Hub to the Bus and vice versa. It’s a really busy place so I’m very pleased Weston Park Cancer Charity are managing to reach lots of people in our community and inform them of cancer and the support available to them.”

Read our full regular schedule here.

Wellbeing Day

We hosted our first Wellbeing Day at Bradbury Makers’ Shed in Hillsborough Park in July.

We know it can be hard to switch off when you or a loved one has cancer, we also understand the importance of looking after your mind as well as your body. We believe mindfulness and wellbeing can help patients navigate the physical and emotional challenges of their cancer journey.

“I gained an insight to things I previously was oblivious to, became more mindful and present. I met some wonderful people and I learned new, interesting things.” - Louise

To find out about our next Wellbeing Day, please call 0114 5533330 and select option 1 to speak to a member of the team or email us at charityteam@wpcancercharity.org.uk.

Moor Market’s Welcome Place

One of our Cancer Information and Support Advisors from our Big Purple Bus team was at the Moor Market’s Welcome Place in July. The charity are working with Sheffield City Council to bring our support services to the city centre community more in the future, including our upcoming second visit on Friday 16th August.

Sheffield Mela Festival

We attended Sheffield’s first Mela festival on 4th August in Firth Park on Sunday 4th August. There were around 1,000 attendees at the festival, along with Farah Akhtar, a Cancer Champion at Friends of Foundary who we collaborate with as part of the Big Purple Bus project.

Sheffield City Centre

Our Big Purple Bus was in Barker’s Pool for a Skin Cancer Awareness Day on 20th August, in collaboration with national charity, Melanoma Focus.

The event was spearheaded by Charlotte Killeya, who is working tirelessly for Sheffield to be a ‘sun safe city’. Charlotte has stage four skin cancer and is campaigning to raise awareness of skin cancer and prevention of the disease.

CEO of Weston Park Cancer Charity, Emma Clarke, said: “We are so pleased to be supporting Charlotte in her mission to educate the people of Sheffield on skin cancer with the aim to reduce the number of cases. We all love spending time outside in the summer when the weather is nice, but we can all do more to look after our skin.”

Back in July, the team attended SACMHA’s 1st anniversary event, followed by the Caribbean Sports Club Family Fun Day in August!

We have exciting collaborations, new locations and events coming up soon, so stay tuned to find out where the Big Purple Bus will be visiting next. If you see us out and about, make sure to pop onboard for a chat with our friendly team about our cancer support services.

Find out more about the Big Purple Bus here.