Our Cancer Survey | The Response So Far…

01 April 2022 — deploy-administration-account

Last month Jonathan Dimbleby, Chair of the Richard Dimbleby Cancer Fund, and actor Greg Wise in his role as charity Ambassador, were on the BBC Breakfast sofa to talk about Cancer Care Map and how we are trying to reach more people who otherwise aren’t aware of cancer support services in their local area.

The results of our survey carried out at the end of last year by YouGov, suggest that

• Over a third of people living with cancer in the UK aren’t aware that there is help out there for them during and beyond their cancer treatment
• Only half of those we spoke to who felt they needed additional support were able to get the help they needed
• And a third of those surveyed didn’t feel able to talk to their GP about worries and concerns after finishing their cancer treatment

Jonathan spoke about how the site has grown over the last year with now over 3,000 local and national support services and cancer care organisations listed right across the UK. And Greg spoke very personally about his own experiences caring for his sister Clare before she died in 2017.

The response has been fantastic. On the day itself we had over 16,000 visitors to the Cancer Care Map, we’ve had requests from over 30 organisations to add themselves to the map, and many other messages and enquiries from people wanting to know more or get further help finding support for themselves or loved ones.

We’ve also had lots of feedback saying how useful the site is, with comments like the below:

“I work in customer service for vulnerable customers in financial service. A lot of our customers have been diagnosed with cancer and don’t know where to look for support. This will be invaluable for signposting support.”

 

“I am overjoyed to have found out about Cancer Care Map today. I had very invasive disfiguring surgery / radio / chemo 7 years ago for jaw cancer and have felt so alone. Today I have found places to turn to at last.   Such a logical and simple idea to bring all services to a central register for all cancer problems.  Thank you!”

 

“Everyone needs a place to turn to for support and this website has lot of good options.”

Other people have pointed out some things that we can easily help with:

• If your initial search returns a lot of results that can feel quite overwhelming, you can filter your results by relevance or by distance, and you can reduce the radius to only show results within 5 or 10 miles of your location.
• You can also narrow your search by using keywords
• If you can’t find something in your area, do include National resources in your search as there are many national support services that can offer support either through helplines, online support or even things like virtual exercise classes that you can access wherever you are
• And always, if you find something that seems out of date or that isn’t working properly, do let us know either by using the Contact Form on the site or emailing us at hello@cancercaremap.org

In the last 12 months over 141,000 people have visited Cancer Care Map, but we know that 1,000 people everyday are diagnosed with cancer in the UK. And we want all those people, and their friends, carers and loved ones, to know about Cancer Care Map so that they can find the extra help they need during and beyond their cancer treatment. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference. And sometimes you just don’t realized those things are right on your doorstep.