The first thing that strikes me as I walk into Glasgow’s Maggie’s centre is the extraordinary sense of calm. The design of the building in the grounds of Gartnavel Hospital helps, of course; its renowned architect Rem Koolhaas said his aim was to create “another world” and he has surely succeeded. The floor-to-ceiling windows seem to bring the central and surrounding gardens inside the building. There is greenery wherever you look.

The 17 Maggie’s centres in the UK and abroad are all architectural wonders in their own right, designed by the cream of the profession, including Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster and Glasgow-based Page and Park. But architecture is only a part of the equation of what makes these centres, which are built through public donations, so special and successful. As everyone here will tell you: the most important element of all is the people.

The raison d’etre of the Maggie’s movement is clear: to provide free practical, emotional and social support for those with cancer and their friends and family. Trained professionals provide many of these services, including individual and group therapy, help with claiming benefits, nutritional advice and bereavement counselling. But much of the social support comes from the centre users themselves, who, put simply, help each other cope.

For some help and support will mean attending writing, art and tai chi classes, or receiving formal counselling about how to move on with life after treatment has ended. For others, it may mean just dropping in for a cup of tea before, during, or after treatment, chatting to others who understand what they’re going through. Some folk may simply want some time on their own with a book in a comfy chair in a quiet corner. It’s all about what suits every individual user.

The blueprint for the centres was created by Scottish designer Maggie Keswick Jencks and her husband, the globally renowned architectural landscaper and theorist Charles Jencks, following her diagnosis with terminal breast cancer in 1993. The couple immediately saw the importance of what they described as “social hope”.

Earlier this year, in an interview with The Herald, Charles Jencks described Maggie’s an “an idea whose time has come”.

As you wander round this beautiful building, you see exactly what he means. There are plenty of smiles and lots of laughter; it can be hard to remember that many of the people here are living with a disease that, despite medical advances, still has the power to strike fear into the hearts of most of us.

Drinking tea around the big table in open plan kitchen is a group of people who did just that. Among them is Lyndsey Geddes from Houston, Renfrewshire, who heard about the centre from her oncologist. The 31-year-old was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just over a year ago and has been receiving treatment at the Beatson.

“I feel as if the Beatson looks after my body and the Maggie’s looks after my mind,” says Geddes, who has attends many sessions including creative writing and tai chi.

“If it hadn’t been for the centre, I think I’d have taken to my bed a year ago, on diagnosis, and never got up. It’s not just the emotional support, it’s the practical support that’s so important, things like managing your stress.

“It’s great even on days when you’re not coming for a particular reason, when you just feel really rubbish. You can come here and speak to a member of staff or just sit around the table and speak to other folk using the centre.

“It’s the only place where everyone you meet has a pretty good idea of how you are feeling – we’re all in the same boat to some extent.”

Geddes describes Maggie’s as an oasis. Her husband, too, has used the facilities.

“He used to come in while I was having my treatment, go into one of the rooms and have a nap for an hour,” she says. “He’d wake up and someone would have put a blanket over him. That’s the sort of place Maggie’s is.”

Centre head Kerry Craig is keenly aware of the fear felt by many on diagnosis, but says help is available to patients and their carers, no matter what their circumstances.

“We’re here for everyone,” she says. “It’s not about us prescribing what people should do or how they should live their lives. When someone arrives, they walk through the door as a person, not a diagnosis, and that’s who we greet – the person.

“When Maggie [Keswick Jencks] spoke about her own diagnosis she said being diagnosed was like being parachuted behind enemy lines without a map.

“We’re here to help people draw their own map. Everybody’s map will be different. We allow people the space and time to do it, whether they’re young or old, man or woman, from Bearsden or the east end of Glasgow.

“The centre is about people, and the Maggie’s in Glasgow is about the people of Glasgow.”

About 1500 people a month already use the services of the centre, which is just a short walk from the Beatson, one of Scotland’s main cancer treatment centres. But Craig, a specialist nurse who has spent her career working with cancer patients, says the capacity exists to do more.

“When you look at the population of Glasgow and the number who are treated for cancer and affected by it, it’s clear some people don’t know about Maggie’s,” she says. “I want to change that. When people are diagnosed, I want almost the next thing they do to be to come to Maggie’s.”

Robbie Cunningham started coming to Maggie’s last October after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

The 25-year-old from Glasgow has since used a wide array of the services, including a seven-week course aimed specifically at men, which covers diet, exercise and stress management.

“The best thing for me has been learning ways to cope with stress and anxiety,” he says. “I’ve always been a pretty laid back person, but being diagnosed with a brain tumour was a bit of a curve ball and I had to deal with it quite quickly.

“The group stuff was great. Talking to people about how you’re feeling is really healthy, especially people who can relate to what you’re going through. The camaraderie is really important, as is staying motivated. If you just sit in the dark, nothing will change.

“The course was a good kick up the backside for me - it got me out of my ‘pity party’ and made me start thinking about being a bit more proactive. I just can’t say enough good things about the support.”

But the facilities here aren’t only utilised by people who live in Glasgow. Robin Bell from Perthshire used the centre regularly when his wife Irwen was being treated for ovarian cancer at the Beatson. Sadly, Irwen died last year, but Robin has continued to keep in touch, both as a centre-user and fundraiser.

“My wife was a doctor and we were always aware of the Maggie’s movement, but our personal experience was so positive,” says Bell. “Coming quite a long distance for treatment was exhausting which made Maggie’s absolutely invaluable.

“I would bring her in for chemotherapy, then go for a walk and pop into Maggies’s with a sandwich to relax. The people I met were fantastic, so keen to offer help and support. Of course generosity of spirit breeds more generosity, and that carries on and on.”

And the care didn’t stop when Irwen died.

“It was a while before I came back,” says Bell. “I didn’t think anyone would remember me. But when I walked in, everyone said ‘how are you, Robin?’. I really wasn’t expecting that. What I find impressive is that the care isn’t just a token gesture for a wee while, it’s for the long term. The warmth and humour continue.”

In keeping with the Maggie's ethos, one of the sessions, on creating scrapbook memories, is run by Mary Wells, who was herself a centre-user.

"I was diagnosed with a brain tumour at 12, and had always done scrapbooking as a way to trigger memories after radiotherapy and chemotherapy affected my memory," says Wells, 35. "Scrapbooking can help people in lots of ways, whether you're terminally ill and want to leave memories for your loved ones, or making sure you don't lose your sense of self while you are receiving treatment. There's something very creative and powerful about the whole process."

As crucial as emotional support can be for people with cancer and their carers, practical advice is just as important, particularly when it comes to finances, and especially when the benefits system is undergoing so much change.

Carol Scott has 30 years’ experience in offering benefits advice, and her service is one of the busiest at the centre. Recent research carried out by the Macmillan Cancer Support charity highlights why: money came second only to severe pain in a survey of what people diagnosed with cancer worried most about.

Scott says financial concerns can be a “nightmare” for people with cancer, particularly since a diagnosis can mean higher heating bills, since patients spend more time at home, and significant expenditure on travel to and from hospital. She says eating healthily can also be expensive.

She’s there to offer people a “way through the maze”, she says.

“The Maggie’s centre has wonderful things to offer, but if you’re worried about finances it can make you too stressed to be able to take advantage of them,” she adds. “Often people are too frightened to claim, embarrassed talking about money, or they have no experience of the benefits system. We see them right through the process and get them what they are entitled to.

“A cancer diagnosis can take choice and control away from people. But we can help and it’s great to see people visibly relax when they get the right advice. Some people don’t have financial worries, but they may still be entitled to benefits. I’m here to help them all.”

The Maggie’s movement has grown exponentially since the first centre opened in a converted stable block in Edinburgh in 1996, a year after Maggie Keswick Jencks’ death. As well as Glasgow and Edinburgh, centres exist in Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Kirkcaldy and Airdrie, and across the UK, with more in the pipeline. The first international centre was opened in Hong Kong in 2013.

The groundbreaking approach, meanwhile, has put Scotland at the forefront of global cancer care, with health services from all over the world, including Germany, Japan and the US, looking to replicate the model.

But such personalised services clearly don’t come cheap - on average it costs £600,000 a year to run a Maggie's - and the money to build and run each centre is raised by the public. Patrons for the charity include broadcaster Kirsty Wark, newsreader Jon Snow, architect Frank Gehry, who designed the Dundee centre, and Sarah Brown, wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The charity's president is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.

Fundraising efforts are key, and go on year round, with many former centre users and their family and friends at the forefront of efforts.

“What our volunteers and fundraisers do for us is absolutely astounding”, smiles Craig. "Every centre is part of its community, which is why our communities respond so well.”

Among the charity’s forthcoming fundraising events is Alexander McCall Smith’s Culture Crawl, which takes place in Edinburgh on Friday night. The 44 Scotland Street and No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency author will lead a group of up to 400 fundraisers round his favourite cultural attractions.

For more information on Maggie’s centres, visit www.maggiescentres.org. For more on the culture crawl, go to www.maggiescentres.org/culturecrawl.