Macmillan volunteer in Leamington is among those providing much needed relief to depressed cancer patients

Macmillan Cancer Support understands this and how scary cancer can be and that’s why the charity has established a new service to support people when they need it most.

The new Telephone Buddy service has been set-up by Macmillan to provide weekly telephone support to people affected by cancer so that they can discuss any worries that they might have. People in need of support are matched with a specially trained volunteer who will support them for 12 weeks or more.

Sue Arnold from Leamington is just one of the individuals currently being supported by the service. Sue, 56, was diagnosed with anal cancer in February this year.

When her treatment ended shortly after lockdown began, she felt very alone and depressed.

Sue said, ‘After treatment had finished, I was advised to shield, so I was even more isolated as I wasn't able to see my friends or family. Even though my parents were adding my order to their online shop, they brought it down but I couldn't spend a lot of time with them.’

A week after my treatment finished, it sank in that I was on my own.

The service has made a big difference to my day to day life. Jo, my Macmillan telephone buddy, has given me so much support and she always has a positive attitude.

The thing I like most about my time with Jo is I don't see or hear from people for days on end and she is the only person I speak to that week.

We are on the phone for a good hour and I look forward to her call. It makes me feel less lonely and isolated during this uncertain time.

Jo is very caring and supportive. She always asks about my family and what I’ve been doing during the week. She has a real interest in my life.’

Macmillan’s Volunteer Telephone Buddies provide invaluable support when you need it most. They provide a listening ear and are there to talk about how you’re feeling, discuss what support you need and can also let you know about other services that could be helpful.

Jo Rowney is an employee at npower and has volunteered for Macmillan since 2018 through npower and Macmillan’s partnership which raised over £4.3 million for people living with cancer, funded the Energy Advice Team on the Macmillan Support Line and set up the npower Macmillan fund to support its customers living with cancer by capping their energy bills and writing off debt which now stands at over £11 million.

Jo said: ‘I wanted to become a Macmillan volunteer to help people who are going through cancer or recovering from it.

"Through personal experience of losing someone very close to me to cancer l know the impact that this disease has. Sometimes talking to someone who is not a relative or friend is good as you can share thoughts/fears that you don’t want to burden those close to you with.

"Or alternatively the person can talk about anything but cancer if they want to too. That’s why l wanted to do this. Initially l trained to be a face to face buddy but l love being a telephone buddy now instead.’

The Telephone Buddy service is available to anyone in the UK who is living with cancer, to find out more about the service or to volunteer as a buddy, call 0808 808 00 00 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/telephone-buddies