Maggie's Centres can be found at hospitals in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Dundee. Further centres are being developed for London, Oxford, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Swansea, Kirkcaldy and Wishaw.

Maggie's Centres have pioneered the development of a unique cancer support programme. It is designed by healthcare professionals to complement the medical treatment that people receive.

Faced with a diagnosis of cancer, people may have many questions. These may be:

How am I going to cope?

What questions should I ask my doctor?

How do I tell my family?

What will happen if I can't work?

Who can I talk to about all this?

When people visit a Maggie's Centre, they are greeted by a member of the Maggie's Team. They have specialist training in supporting people with cancer and will be able to talk through your own situation, answer your questions and suggest how you might use Maggie's programme to help yourself.

The centres are open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and some evenings. No appointment is necessary and you are encouraged to call in whenever you wish.

Maggie's Programme

Maggie's Programme has four core elements:

Information

Information and Support specialists can answer questions, discuss an individual’s own situation with them and help them to make the most of the centre’s library as well as the internet and other organisations.

Relaxation and Stress Reduction

Relaxation therapists can help people learn techniques that they can then use at home, in the hospital or anywhere to help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

Psychological, emotional and social support Talking fears and concerns through with someone can help reduce the very normal feelings of isolation, loss of control and helplessness which cancer can bring. Working with a psychologist on a one-to-one basis or as a member of a group encourages people to find better ways of dealing with difficult and often painful feelings.

The right environment

Although just around the corner from the hospital cancer treatment centre, Maggie’s makes the most of being separate. Maggie's Centres are light, bright, welcoming and homely.

There are a variety of fun ways that people can raise vital funds for Maggie’s. From local walks to hikes to the Great Wall of China, free falling from the sky in a parachute jump and having a ball. Call Carys for free information packs on 0141 330 3368.

The first Maggie's centre was opened in 1996.

There are now centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness.

Further Maggie's Centres are being developed at hospitals in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Swansea, Fife and Lanarkshire.

Maggie's Centres were the vision of Maggie Keswick Jencks when she herself was treated for cancer.

She recognised the difficulties of accessing information and on-going support, which help people cope when faced with a diagnosis of cancer.