COMMERCIAL FEATURE: Glaswegian Anne Ashcroft and her family were so grateful for Macmillan’s support when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

I was diagnosed in March 2009 and it was a complete shock. I remember the day I was told it was cancer and my husband and I were sent away from hospital and told to come back in a week’s time to discuss treatment options. We were in shock and didn’t know where to turn. It was an awful week, until we came across Macmillan.

My husband and I had gone to the coffee shop in our local library and noticed a poster for Macmillan so we popped into the Information & Support Centre. It was very warm and welcoming, not clinical like the hospitals so we felt we could really open up and talk. The hospital was great in terms of medical treatment but their time is so limited with you that you don’t have time to talk about how it’s really affecting you.

Both my husband and I received tremendous support from Macmillan. Just being around people who were going through the same thing was a great help, everyone was so supportive to both me and my husband. It wasn’t just emotional support we were given, we were also put in touch with a Macmillan Benefits advisor who helped me claim benefits I was entitled to. Having worked all our lives my husband and I had no idea that I was entitled to benefits or how to complete the paperwork so it was a huge help with financial worries we had.

My son was only 17 year old when I was diagnosed so it was a hard time for him too. Being a typical teenager he found it difficult to talk to his mum and dad, so he went into the Macmillan Information & Support Centre too and found speaking to the volunteers there really helpful. It was a huge relief for me knowing that he had someone to talk to about it and wasn’t bottling it all up.

I also really enjoyed the complementary therapies that Macmillan offered at the centre, I would have reflexology and massages which really helped me relax. It was so nice to get some attention and have some ‘me’ time. I really don’t know what I would have done without Macmillan, they made a terrible time so much easier and were there for me and my family when I needed them most.

Macmillan is here for you too

Call the Support Line free on 0808 808 00 00 or visit one of our local Information & Support Centres:

Macmillan Information & Support Centre at Mitchell Library

North Street, Glasgow, 0141 287 2999

Information & Support Centre Beatson

Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, 1053 Great Western Road 0141 301 7390