Cancer survivor who drove 20 miles to find a support group sets up her own

But when she began looking for a support group, the closest she could find was 20 miles away in Shrewsbury.

However, when the 57-year-old craft teacher turned up she found nobody there, so set out to begin her own group.

Amanda, who moved to Bridgnorth in 2020 from Banbury, said: "When you are first diagnosed with cancer they realise you may be traumatised so they give you a bumper pack of info, which includes places where you can get help.

"When you are going through to treatment is you have no control and one of the worst things is all the waiting for results and for treatments so you really need to speak to people who have been through similar experiences."

"I had undergone my treatment but I still needed somebody to talk to but the only places that were offering support in the area were in Shrewsbury or Telford. So I went along to the group in Shrewsbury only to find there was nobody there. I was at the point where I really needed to speak to someone.

She said she asked on local Facebook groups to see if anybody knew of support help for cancer patients but nobody did, so she set up her own Facebook group. Within days around 40 people had signed up, so Amanda decided to start holding meetings in the town.

"Our first drop in session is on August 1 at The Board Room in Whitburn Street. We have two sessions one at 11am until 2pm and one in the evening at 7pm until 9pm," said Amanda.

She added everybody is welcome to attend, whether a cancer patient, somebody who has a friend or relative going through cancer, or survivors willing to help out.

"By the sheer number that have contacted me, from teenagers whose parents have died, to others I'm expecting it to be very popular," Amanda said. "But we do need people to help. While we have a small band of volunteers already, anybody that can offer support, or just has a few hours free a week to help with IT, admin or can create spreadsheets please get in touch."

She added that she was also hoping to find a local printer to help her with creating posters.

Anybody interested in attending the first Bridgnorth Cancer Support Group meeting should either go along to the Board Room Cafe on August 1 or contact Amanda at: [email protected]