My Cancer My Choices (https://mycancermychoices.org) is a Berkshire based charity that offers free complimentary therapy treatments to local people living with a cancer diagnosis. This charity was started in 2014 by Mandy Barter and Liz Lee, so we are celebrating our ten-year anniversary during 2025. Over these last ten years, the charity has grown from strength to strength with over 2,000 clients registered and more than 10,000 treatments given.
In 2023, after a vigorous validation process, the charity was awarded The Kings Award for Voluntary Service (an MBE for charities!)
How do these therapies help?
Many years ago, it was thought that manual therapy could be harmful to those with cancer, however, many scientific studies and anecdotal evidence has shown that this is not the case. This page from Cancer Research UK gives more information on this subject (Individual therapies | Cancer in general | Cancer Research UK)
Specially trained therapists can offer safe treatments that help clients to manage the common side effects of Surgery, Chemo and Radiotherapies.
These side effects include:
Pain
Fatigue
Nausea
Sleep Disturbance
Hormone imbalance
Emotional distress
My Cancer My Choices is based in Charvil, Berkshire and has four locations throughout the county where treatments can take place. All our therapists are volunteers along with most of the background staff. Donations are needed to cover the costs of massage oils, acupuncture needles, washing and parking (at some venues). Clients are offered 6 sessions of their choice. The therapies offered with depend upon location and availability of therapists.
Our therapists are trained in a variety of modalities that can bring benefits to anyone going through treatment for, or living with, cancer.
The therapies currently on offer include:
Massage and Aromatherapy massage
Scarwork™ therapy
Acupuncture
Reiki
Reflexology
We also run courses in Yoga and Mindfulness both on-line and in-person, which can help clients to relax and calm themselves during stressful periods.
Background voluntary positions include – Meeter-Greeters, Fundraisers and Trustees. We currently have 75 volunteers in all positions but can always welcome more to the team. If you would like to get involved by volunteering or through giving a donation, please check out the website – https://mycancermychoices.org/get-involved
My journey with My cancer My choices
It was during my Scarwork™ training in 2019 that I realised a large percentage of the people who had serious scaring and were asking for specialist treatment had undergone surgery to remove a tumour. Along with the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy upon their bodies, these people were often trying to deal with restricted movement and ongoing pain.
Although the Scarwork™ therapy could help them, I was not qualified to incorporate this into my Soft Tissue Therapy without further training.
In November 2019, I started my Oncology massage training and co-incidentally around this time also found out about My Cancer My Choices. I decided that after I had finished my training, I would volunteer as one of their therapists.
However, we all know what happened in early 2020!! The Covid pandemic shut most of the country down and this included the charity. Luckily, I managed to finish my Oncology Massage training before the first lock down was imposed and received my diploma in August 2020.
Finally, in January 2022, I started work at the Charvil main office. I volunteer for two afternoons a month, seeing three clients at each session. These clients cover a wide range of ages, they come from all sorts of backgrounds and are dealing with many different diagnoses. Not everyone has a scar, some come for a massage to alleviate aches and pains, some to relax and feel less like a patient. Many want to talk to someone who is not involved in their medical treatment and just off-load for a while. All this is possible with our team of highly trained and experienced therapists.
So, what do I get out of it? Why give up this time and do my job for free?
There are many answers that I could give:
The charity enables me to use my skills to help other people, I enjoy the feeling of giving
We can spread the word that complementary therapies do have a place in cancer care
Working as part of a team, instead of always working alone
The charity supports me with ongoing training including learning more about cancer treatments, first aid, resilience training for carers and even fire safety!
If you want to know more about how Oncology Massage or Scarwork™ can help you, please get in touch for an informal chat or send me a message.
If you want to discuss how you could help this wonderful charity, I am happy to talk through my experience or you can contact them directly.