Marie Curie

A friend was telling me recently how he simply would not have coped with the terminal illness of his wife if it hadn’t been for Marie Curie.

It is an organisation that most people have heard of and when Marie Curie run fund raising events, most of us know it is something to do with cancer support and are willing to make a donation. However, it is only when you research into the organisation that you begin to realise the true breadth and depth of the skills and support they offer – free of charge.

It all began in 1948, the same year as the National Health Service was introduced into the UK. There had been a hospital in North London called the Marie Curie Hospital, and when this became a NHS hospital, the committee members of the original hospital decided to keep the name and do something in the charitable field but still connected with medicine.

The charity they founded has prospered and today the name still exists under the more specific title, Marie Curie Cancer Care. And that is what it does, care for cancer sufferers and their family and friends by offering a huge range of services from providing nursing for patients in their own home to hospices and a myriad of other services.

Marie Curie works in partnership with GPs, district nurses, hospital consultants and other health professionals and offers a full team of professionals to help in a wide range of areas.

Its professional nurses are available to help manage the physical and also the emotional symptoms of the illness and often spend long periods at a time in a person’s home providing full support, often with overnight stays. Its physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other professionals back up the service with specialised areas of help and advice. Its health professionals can also offer assistance in all the practical areas such as finances or identifying healthcare options that may be available and they are also expert in supporting friends and relations of patients in what can be hugely difficult times.

Marie Curie also currently run nine hospices with palliative care experts.

Fund raising and volunteers play a major part in the success of the Marie Curie story and both are still desperately needed. There are lots of ways people can become involved to give help and in fact it is a two way street because most volunteers and fund raisers usually make many new friends and find the whole experience positive and very rewarding.

If you feel you might be interested in helping out this wonderful organisation, you can get a lot more information by visiting Marie Curie on www.mariecurie.org.uk