Our year

It’s been quite a year!

Another year like no other has seen us gradually continue to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic while achieving so much for the one in two people facing cancer in our region.

It’s been a year to celebrate a return to relative normality, but also new ventures and new ways of working. A total of 2,115 people visited our new Charity Hub – a refurbished premises underneath the hospital archway which has become the home for our expanding transport service.

The ‘Chub’, as you’ll hear us fondly call it, is a warm, welcoming waiting area for patients, passengers, loved ones and our volunteer drivers.

Speaking of which – in the last 12 months our volunteer drivers helped dedicated thousands of volunteer hours to make 692 journeys from Barnsley, Chesterfield and Rotherham to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, providing free, safe travel for people to and from appointments in Sheffield.

We also celebrated the full reopening of Weston Park Cancer Support on Northumberland Road for appointments and drop-ins. This, along with the virtual and over-the-phone support which has been enhanced in the last two years, enabled us to provide confidential cancer support on more than 10,891 occasions.

Our wonderful healthcare professionals also responded to 3,761 calls to our Helpline – providing vital, free over-the-phone support when it’s needed most.

In addition, we made 914 We Care calls – outgoing calls to check in and chat to people affected by cancer.

Quote: ‘It feels like a friend calling when you call – I can’t praise the service enough’ – client feedback for our We Care Calls.

We also helped people feel calmer with 317 mindfulness sessions, provided support for people caring for someone with cancer 320 times, and we were there for people facing bereavement on 367 occasions.

Our emotional, practical and physical support – including complementary therapies – is also accompanied by financial support, something which is needed now more than ever.

Our welfare support has increased by 35 per cent. Provided by specialist advisors from Citizens Advice Sheffield, our funding has enabled more people than ever before to access advice on a range of issues including universal credit, benefits, tax, personal independence payments and travel and transport issues.

At Weston Park Cancer Charity, we not only care for people living with and beyond cancer currently – we aim to create a better life for people who go through cancer in future. This year, we honoured more than £1 million to research, at a time when many charities pulled research funding, to help cancer research, treatment and care to continue progressing.

Within that figure was almost £300,000 of funding we awarded to Sheffield’s Cancer Clinical Trials Centre (CCTC). The funding renews our partnership with the centre and sees us provide funding for seven research nurse posts. More than 1,200 people took part in potentially life-changing clinical trials right here in Sheffield, meaning the CCTC continues to have a huge impact for people in our region and all over the world.

Pioneering projects established using Weston Park Cancer Charity funding continued to greatly impact local people. A total of 37 people enjoyed free weekly swimming sessions through OutSwimming Cancer in Chesterfield, which continues to take place at Queen’s Park Sports Centre!

The project also won the Health Impact Award at the Swim England and Education Awards, a huge accolade for the project and its leader, the amazing Lesley Rechert. Read more about it here.

Last but no means least was the very exciting news that our mobile outreach service secured more than £270,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund. The service is an exciting new venture for us as a charity and will enable us to take our support out into local communities across Sheffield to be there, together at every step, for people living with and beyond cancer on their doorstep.

We’re sure you’ll agree that it’s been an exciting time and we can’t wait for what’s in store in 2023.

A huge thank you to everybody who has made, and continues to make, our work possible. With you by our side, we can continue to be there, at every step, for the one in two people facing cancer.

*Figures from the 2021/2022 Annual Report