Planning permission granted for new Maggie's in grounds of Maidstone Hospital, Kent

Chief Executive of Maggie's, Dame Laura Lee DBE said: “We are delighted to have planning permission to build our new Maggie’s in Kent. 

“We have been working closely with Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to bring our free expert support to the people of the whole Kent region, so it is wonderful we are now a step closer. 

“This incredible milestone comes as we mark 30 years of providing trailblazing expert support across the UK and look towards the next three decades of Maggie’s. Our Kent centre is progress towards our ambition to have 60 centres across the UK, so no one faces cancer alone.” 

Chief Executive for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW), Miles Scott said: “This exciting partnership with Maggie’s represents an important step in how we care for people – not just by delivering world-class medical treatment, but by recognising and responding to the emotional and practical toll cancer takes.

“This new centre – just a short walk away from the Kent Oncology Centre - will offer patients and their families a sense of community, guidance and strength at a time when they need it most. We are looking forward to seeing the project develop and the positive difference it will make for our communities over the coming years.”

Bringing the Kent heritage to the healing architecture

The new Maggie’s centre has been designed by Assemble, and will include a warm and welcoming kitchen area, as well as rooms for one-to-one support and larger spaces for groups, exercise classes and more.

The design aims to create a building embedded in the culture, landscape, geology and heritage of Kent. It will also celebrate natural and local materials to create a space that is beautiful and richly atmospheric, create a sense of familiarity for people coming from across Kent.  

Maggie’s understands the importance of contact with nature for mental and physical health, which is why the garden at the centre is an integrated part of the concept. It is by Landscape Architects J&L Gibbons, who designed the landscape for the Natural History Museum. 

Architect Anthony Engi-Meacock said: “It is wonderful that we have secured planning permission for the new Maggie’s at Maidstone hospital. Maggie’s centres are special places that enable staff and volunteers to deliver extraordinary work.

“It is a privilege to be part of a team who believe in, and demonstrate, the value of design to create uplifting spaces that nourish those who inhabit them. We look forward to continuing work to bring Maggie’s to Kent.”

“The centre will be there to support the 11,000 people diagnosed with cancer in Kent every year, as well as those living with cancer and family and friends. It is expected to support 20,000 visits annually.

The project is in the early phases of a £7 million fundraising campaign.

Chair of Maggie’s Kent Fundraising Board, Sarah Kemsley said: “Once in a blue moon you find a truly transformational and beautiful legacy project to be involved with. My family used the Kent Oncology Centre, and I know how much our experience would have benefitted from having a Maggie’s.

“With as many as 600 people with cancer being treated at this centre of excellence every day, it is imperative we fundraise hard to get this beautiful sanctuary embedded into Kent and East Sussex life as quickly as possible, supporting many generations to come.

“I am confident that people who have made their lives in Kent and have experiences of the Kent Oncology Centre will want to make sure that there is something more, a beautiful sanctuary of support, for generations to come.

“As a community we will take pride knowing that we were the ones who made Maggie’s Kent possible.” 

Here for 30 years, here for good

For 30 years, Maggie’s has been at the forefront of transforming care for people impacted by cancer. 

Since the first Maggie’s centre opened in 1996 in the grounds of the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Maggie’s has redefined what cancer care should be, offering free psychological, emotional and practical support for people with cancer as well as their family and friends. 

The 27 Maggie's centres across the UK are built in the grounds of major NHS cancer hospitals and support hundreds of thousands of people each year.

No appointment is needed, and people can drop in to speak to fully trained clinical psychologists, benefits advisors, and cancer support specialists.

Become a Friend of Maggie's

Everyone with cancer deserves a place like Maggie’s. We want to continue to grow so that we can support everyone impacted by cancer in the UK.

It costs nothing to come into one of our centres - but it takes your kind donations to keep us free of charge for everyone living with cancer and their family and friends.

Become a Friend of Maggie's by donating, fundraising for us or getting involved, and help Maggie’s to be here today, tomorrow and always.