FOR SERVICE PERSONNEL AND VETERANS BATTLING CANCER
Promoting and protecting the health and well-being of Service personnel and veterans of the British Armed Forces that have been diagnosed with cancer and their families and wider support network through the provision of peer support and signposting to other providers.
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OUR PEER SUPPORT
Peer support is provided through our network of volunteers. Our volunteers are all serving personnel or veterans who have, themselves, been diagnosed with cancer. Between them they cover a wide range of cancers, stages, and treatment pathways. Peer support does not seek to replace formal medical or clinical advice but enables those recently diagnosed or undergoing treatment to speak to someone who can personally relate to your military experience (often an ‘ice breaker’), the diagnosis you have received, and the treatment and journey you are facing.
FIND ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
In addition to providing direct access to peer support, we can signpost you to other organisations – national, regional, and local – that are able to provide specialist advice and support. Partnering will also be key to extending our own network and, in so doing, our reach and effectiveness. In many respects, partnering will be a key enabler to our activities but also of crucial benefit to you.
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ABOUT US
Cancer is indiscriminate and does not differentiate; age, gender, ethnicity, background, and status are irrelevant. But those seeking our support, regardless of their rank, are united by military service, common values, and, of course, their cancer diagnosis. While established as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) in August 2021, we seek to support individuals throughout the United Kingdom.
VISION
To be the peer support network of choice for members of the Armed Forces community who are affected by cancer, drawing on our common values and shared experiences.
MISSION
To provide peer support to serving Service personnel, Veterans, and their families affected by cancer.
VALUES
We will honour the unique nature of those who seek our support and treat them with:
Care, Compassion, Confidentiality, Dignity & Respect
STUART'S STORY
"Family and friends are essential to helping you tackle everything that cancer throws at you, but sometimes you just need someone else. Someone with similar stories to you, someone that you can relate to and someone that relates back."
In July 2019, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While the doctors and clinicians were excellent, they explained things in purely clinical terms. I was contacted by a former colleague – and fellow Veteran – offering advice and support and he was able to make sense of the options available to me and to provide some reassurance.
I elected for surgery which took place in the October. Blood tests in February 2020 suggested a possible spread; this was confirmed in May with a tumour identified in a single lymph node in my pelvis.
At about the same time, I was contacted by a former colleague who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and who, like me, was faced with having to make a choice between surgery or radiotherapy. I talked him through my own experience and latest diagnosis.
While undergoing radiotherapy I was contacted by another former colleague who had had the same diagnosis. While not feeling ready to speak to friends, he welcomed the opportunity to speak to me. In his words, our 30-minute call was “cathartic”.
Our own journeys continue, but we continue to ‘compare notes’ and it is this experience that convinces me of the importance of peer support.’
CONTACT
We are here to help and support you. If you want to discuss your diagnosis or just to have a chat please do get in touch.
The easiest way to get in touch is to use the form below.
Alternatively, you can send us an email info@charliecharlie.one