IT is the UK's busiest cancer hospital.

But until a year ago the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre did not have a full-time charity raising cash to pay for specialist services and staff.

Now the Beatson Cancer Charity is one year old - and smashing all of its fundraising targets.

CATRIONA STEWART took a tour of the hospital's charity-funded Wellbeing Centre and met chief executive David Welch.

HE is the man behind the incredible success of the fledgling Beatson Cancer Charity.

But David Welch is modest about the organisations multi-million pound milestones.

"It's a team effort," he said. "Not just the team here at the Beatson Cancer Charity but from everyone in Glasgow and beyond who has supported us, fundraised for us, volunteered and donated."

David, who led fundraising at Yorkhill Children's Charity before being head-hunted for the Beatson, said: "The first year has been amazing.

"My aim for the first year was to bring the two existing charities together and grown them - and we have done that incredibly well.

"What we have done is to give people the chance to give back to the place that has helped them or their loved ones by fundraising and volunteering.

"We've given them the chance to become part of Team Beatson."

The Beatson Cancer Charity was formed through the merger of the Friends of Beatson and the Beatson Oncology Centre Fund, two charities that raised around £1.25m each year and were run solely by volunteers.

But the Beatson is the UK's busiest cancer hospital - the Christie in Manchester is the largest - and it was felt there was a need for one organisation to boost fundraising.

In its first year, the cancer charity set itself a target of £2m and easily smashed it, raising £3.6m.

The charity employs 36 staff, 11 of whom are engaged in fundraising.

And the investment shows as its fundraising activities throughout the first 12 months were all roaring successes.

Off the Beatson Track, a sponsored walk that ended with a party in the Riverside Museum, aimed to attracted 500 participants.

Instead, on August 1 last year, 1500 people turned out, dressed in bright yellow, and raised more than £140,000.

At the moment, the charity has set itself a number of financial responsibilities, such as paying more than £555,000 to hire specialist staff such as clinical nurses, a research ­radiographer and a haemato-oncology nurse practitioner.

Nearly £23,000 has gone towards advanced medical equipment including electric frame beds, a pulpit walking frame and a specialist chair for patients suffering from malignant spinal cord compression.

It has also pledged around £366,000 to set up a wellbeing services at the new Lanarkshire Beatson facility at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie.

David added: "We are helping to take an incredible service into the heart of Lanarkshire, cutting down on peoples' need to travel distances."

The services will also be rolled out to the New Victoria Hospital, the Royal Alexandra and the new South Glasgow University Hospital, as well as to satellite services across the west of Scotland.

The current Wellbeing Centre is a source of pride for the charity, giving complimentary therapies to inpatients - from reiki and massage to hairdressing and waxing services.

A haven of bright colours, aromatherapy smells and quiet corners, the Wellbeing Centre offers patients a break from the grim routine of hospital and treatments.

Intensively trained therapists help with a range of issues from anxiety and phobias, to helping patients sleep, relieving pain and nausea.

Centre co-ordinator Rhona Scally said: "Our therapists spend up to six months training with us before they have the knowledge needed to work with cancer patients.

"Our hairdressers, for example, do a very sensitive job and need to be very responsive to the needs of someone who is, say, losing their hair or in the middle of treatment.

"We will have therapists go down to the wards for people who can't make it up to the Wellbeing Centre and we work closely with hospital staff, such as physiotherapists, to make sure we're doing the very best for patients."

Everything in the centre is carefully chosen for cancer patients - from the type of soup and drinks on offer to people who may have mouth blisters or affected taste to computers for those who want to catch up on work or admin.

There are cosy corners and a large, bright space for socialising. Beauty therapy treatment rooms are on a par with those in a top spa.

While the Wellbeing Centre is a main facet of the charity's work, it also has much more planned for the future.

If the Beatson Cancer Charity truly wants to match itself to the Christie and to London's Royal Marden, it will have to match their fundraising targets.

For now, David's hope is to raise £4m next year and be at £5m within three years - but he ultimately wants the organisation to be generating annual donations of £12m, the same as its peers.

He added: "The Beatson is not just the second largest cancer hospital in the UK and the UK's busiest - it is also internationally renowned.

"So why shouldn't we be aspiring to raise the same kind of sums as the Christie and the Marsden and shouting about our successes?

"We have achieved so much in such a short space of time but now it's about continuing to improve what we do, believe in what we do and be proud of what we do in engaging with people."

SIDEBAR

ANGELA MCILROY was diagnosed with cancer just three weeks ago, leaving her three children to go straight into the Beatson for treatment.

The 38-year-old had been suffering from back pain, which her GP said was nothing serious.

But when she developed severe stomach pain, Angela went straight to A&E where blood tests showed all was not well.

She said: "I'm very careful about healthy eating and I keep fit. After having my three children I lost seven stone and became really interested in nutrition so I am usually very fit and active."

Angela was diagnosed with T-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma and taken immediately into hospital, leaving her partner Martin, 39, to look after Maisie, 12, Marina, 10, and seven-year-old Tristan.

She added: "I had to leave it up to Martin to tell the children. It was really left to him as I was so desperately unwell in the very beginning.

"Martin and his sister sat them down to tell them - there was no point in lying. Marina has found it the hardest so far."

Almost immediately, Angela, from Gartcosh, and her family had support from the Beatson Charity.

From simple things, such as being given a foot massage while having chemotherapy, to having the children come and visit her in the Wellbeing Centre, Angela says the charity has been a fantastic help so far.

She said: "It's not great having the children on the ward to visit, it just makes the children think, 'Mum's sick.'

"But you come up here and it's a much nicer family environment, you can interact with them and they can play a game with you.

"The staff are very gentle and kind and they are very good with the children.

"This is a very important place."