Denbighshire cancer centre cuts need for woman’s 240-mile trip

A woman with advanced cancer has welcomed a new support centre in Wales after the previous closest one was a 240-mile round trip.

Sophie, 53, from Anglesey, has stage four breast cancer and uses the Manchester Maggie’s to break up the long journey she has to take for treatment.

But, on Thursday, Maggie’s opens its newest centre at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, on Thursday which will provide help and support to cancer patients and their loved ones.

Previously, the closest one was in north-west England but Sophie said this new centre would bring “peace and lots of pleasure” closer to home, helping “make every day count”.

Sophie was diagnosed in 2018 and said the specialist could not tell her how much longer she had to live, leaving her wondering if it “could be within days or weeks”.

After initial treatment in Bangor, Gwynedd, she was told her options were “running out” and was offered a place on a clinical trial at The Christie in Manchester, which she still attends.

The two-hour journey means the day begins at 04:00 for her and husband Henry so she can arrive at hospital by 08:00 – sometimes not leaving until 22:00.

Her treatment started during the Covid pandemic, when family members were not allowed inside the hospital, meaning Henry “had to stay in the car from morning until night” in the middle of winter.

But when a nurse told them of a Maggie’s on site, their lives changed.

Henry used the facilities and stayed warm while she had gruelling chemotherapy before Sophie started using the centre too, initially to “forget about the anxiety”.

Maggie’s staff give advice and support and Sophie shared her experiences with other patients and discovered the centre offered classes – from yoga to writing and make-up.

Sophie said, without the centre, the arduous journey would be “even more difficult because I can’t really rest well in the car”.

While she will continue to use the Manchester centre while having treatment, Sophie is looking forward to using the north Wales Maggie’s for support.

“Maggie’s is a place where we can really go and relax before coming home,” she said.

But it was the garden that nature-lover Sophie fell in love with: “We have seen Maggie’s garden for three seasons now… for us, that’s hope.”

The importance of being able to access services locally hit home when she overheard a conversation at the Manchester centre two years ago.

A woman was “sobbing” after being told doctors could do nothing else to help her and she would be sent home.

“She said she’s not just sad there was no more treatment… but also the fact she’s going to go home, be on her own, because… there’s nothing in north Wales like Maggie’s, where she could just go and talk to somebody that understands her,” said Sophie.

She believes the north Wales centre will allow people “to get away from the fear or the worry or the anxiety that you’re going through with cancer treatment, or if you’ve just lost somebody due to cancer”.

She added: “I can’t imagine what it would be like without Maggie’s for the past few years.”

Jules Peters, wife of The Alarm singer Mike Peters, who died in April, said she was “really excited” about the north Wales Maggie’s, which was “long overdue”.

“I’m hoping that we’ll have a little Mike Peters corner with a guitar and I’d like to introduce yoga,” she said.

In the final months of his life, Mike – who was from Denbighshire – was also treated at Christie’s in Manchester.

While she remains “forever grateful” to them, Jules added: “The emotional pressure of travelling backwards and forwards from north Wales to the city, it was very tough, on top of an extremely tough situation.

“So, the more that we can have in north Wales, the better.”

The new Maggie’s is the third in Wales and received £4m from the Steve Morgan foundation, named after the founder of Flintshire-based housebuilder Redrow.

The charity, founded by Maggie Keswick Jencks, opened its first centre in 1996 and now offers free support to anyone with cancer, as well as their family and friends.

Dame Laura Lee, chief executive of Maggie’s, said: “With growing numbers of people living with cancer it is vital that this support is in place for people in the local area.”