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In 2011, at the age of 42, Lisa was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a very rare blood cancer. Here, she describes her complete shock on first hearing the news and what she’s learned from living with cancer for the last decade.

My mum's name was Pat. She was a bubbly, outgoing character with lots of friends. Her kids, her family and animals meant the most to her; going on walks with her dog Buddy was her idea of heaven.

I was 50 when I had breast cancer, 20 years ago. I was working as a childminder, a job I really loved and I was about to open my own nursery.

In 2017, Kate's partner Andrew was diagnosed with incurable neuroendocrine cancer and given 2-5 years to live. Here, Kate describes how Maggie's was such a big part of their lives for three years.

I took part in Maggie's Culture Crawl because Maggie's helped me get through the huge waves of emotion and bewilderment when my mum died.

In 2019, Ashley was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer at 35. Immediately after her diagnosis, she visited Maggie's. Here, Ashley tells us how she found comfort in Maggie's virtual support groups during the pandemic.

My treatment ended, my employer terminated my contract and my mum died. Visiting a centre changed everything for me.

In January, Rachel and her sons decided to honour her mum's memory and fundraise for Maggie's by taking part in the Run 50 miles Facebook challenge.

I’m 67 and I live with my husband in London. We’ve been married for 48 years. We're both retired, our children are grown up and we have grandchildren here in the UK and in New Zealand.

Lorna and I had been together since just before she turned 16. We've been married 37 years, together for 39.

In August 2023, every couple of weeks I was experiencing an occasional stomach ache. It would last a few days then disappear.

My story begins seven years ago, when I was 71. I started having problems with my breathing.

I wanted to take part in the Great Women's 10k because there was a time when I thought I might never be able to do it again.

When I was diagnosed, I was just 16. I did two months of high-intensity chemotherapy, one of the highest rates they had ever given someone on the ward. But it wasn’t until after I finished treatment that things started to go downhill.

We’d just got the news, and were in that panic mode – where you don’t know where you are, what’s going on, which way is up or down.

I’ve been given support to come to terms with my cancer, and to not be scared of it. But it took years to get to a better place, and I’m determined to help others get there too.

When I was born, I was in the breech position, which resulted in a brain injury and a Global learning disability. I’m 50 now and I have had a learning disability my whole life.

Komal, 34, was diagnosed with Waldenström’s Macroglobulinaemia, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in 2021. She has found support at Maggie’s in Oldham and Manchester.

We were speaking to a speech and language therapist about what to do next. Wilson was recovering in hospital after his throat surgery. They said if you go to Maggie’s, they’ll help. There was nothing, we'd felt lost - until then.

For the last 30 years Dame Laura Lee, DBE, has been the driving force behind Maggie’s. She has built the charity from one centre in Edinburgh, to 24 across Great Britain, with more in development.