Cancer Society to open Langdons Rd centre

By Ben O’Connell

The Cancer Society is set to open the new Canterbury Cancer Centre this September.

The centre, located at 74 Langdons Rd in Papanui, will be a hub where local people can access a range of cancer support services.

“Our hope for the future is that this centre will also be a base for other cancer organisations to work from and that we work side by side, collaboratively offering complementary services to families impacted by cancer,” says Nicola Coom, chief executive of the Cancer Society Canterbury-West Coast Division.

“As a team, we’re very excited about being able to expand and grow our services together from our amazing new facility.

“One of the benefits of this new centre is that we can offer over 18,000 nights of free accommodation for families who travel to Christchurch from Nelson, Blenheim, the West Coast, Dunedin and all of the surrounding areas for cancer treatment each year; approximately 6,000 more than we currently offer,” Nicola says.

The building’s opening will be a significant milestone for the Cancer Society, whose offices were badly damaged by the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011.

“The past decade has been a very challenging one, but despite what’s been happening around us, we’ve managed to remain focused on our vital role of supporting those in our community with cancer and I’m extremely proud of what we’ve managed to achieve,” she says.

“We’ve relocated and expanded our services in North Canterbury, Selwyn, Ashburton and Timaru, we’ve increased our investment in research and worked closely with schools to improve shade cover for children. We launched the Fresh Air Project aimed at hospitality venues being smoke free and vape free, and we now have 18 venues in Canterbury on board.”

The Cancer Society’s Canterbury and West Coast division has supported over 2,500 families impacted by cancer over the last year alone. 2022 also saw the division complete over 6,000 drives to treatment, and investment exceeding $350,000 in cancer research locally and nationally. Looking ahead they will be doing even more.

“We’re here to lessen the impact of cancer. We support those with it, we advocate to minimise it and we research to eradicate it.

“What this means for a family is that they don’t have the added financial burden of paying for weeks and sometimes months of accommodation when they have to travel from around the South Island for their cancer treatment.

“If someone locally needs to travel to Christchurch Hospital for their medical appointments or treatment we transport them, removing the worry of car parking and access, and when someone is diagnosed, we walk alongside them and their family, helping them to navigate the emotional, physical and financial impacts of cancer, so we ensure that no one goes through cancer alone.”

The Canterbury-West Coast Cancer Society also looks ahead to August 25th –Daffodil Day.

“The month of August is a very important one for the Cancer Society as our annual Daffodil we fund our services. It is also a wonderful opportunity for us to get out on the streets and let the community know about the services that are available to them.

“Unfortunately, today almost everyone has their own experience of being impacted by cancer, and Daffodil Day is an opportunity to make a donation that will make a difference.

“It will support someone newly diagnosed, it will contribute to world leading research, it will help advocate for change and access to modern cancer drugs, increased screening and much more,” Nicola says.

The new Canterbury Cancer Centre will serve a pivotal role for Kiwis across the South Island Te Wai Pounamu, designed to meet the community’s increased demand and changing needs for cancer care.

“Responding to the growing demand for our services and matching the funding for this is one of our greatest challenges.

“The incidence of cancer is expected to double in the next decade, we’re not governmentfunded and we can’t do this alone. We are working alongside other organisations in the South Island to help us get ready to rapidly expand our service offerings and deliver them in new and efficient ways to make the best use of our precious workforce.”

The Cancer Society’s ongoing More Precious campaign (www.moreprecious.co.nz), has demonstrated the power of community support, showing what it takes to open such a specialised cancer support hub.

Having a dedicated place to go for support, advice, and information is more precious than you think. Support, donate, and spread the word today. CT

Images kindly supplied by Canterbury West Coast Cancer Society.

Cancer Society

Canterbury-West Coast (03) 379 5835 0800 226 237 contact@cancercwc.org.nz www.cancer.org.nz