Cancer Support France

It does what it says – but what does that mean? Their mission is to put one veteran in front of another – to end the social isolation that so many veterans feel when they leave the ‘family’ they have known and lived among for so many years. Social isolation is a predominant factor in poor mental health and suicide in Armed Forces Veterans. For some, it is a chance to reminisce, but for others it is a lifeline. AFVBCs allow veterans to stay connected to their military psyche, be part of the family they lost, ending any isolation they feel so that leavers do not feel cast adrift in a world they have not experienced.

In France there are currently seven of these clubs. Three of these have joined forces to organise an event on Saturday 24^th June for Armed Forces Day.

At this event, AFVBC are kindly raising funds for Cancer Support France – because we are a cause close to their hearts as they are, or should be, to ours.  Therewill be a chance for us to explain our work on our own stand. However, to run the stand we need volunteers – an hour or two hours would make such a difference as there is currently only one person available.

The AFVBC branches concerned cover the areas of Aquitaine, Charente and Dordogne, so this could be used as an opportunity for local Associations to find new volunteers and supporters at this event and to get our message out to a wider audience.

If you could help on the day, please contact our President through her email address on our ‘Contact Us‘ page on the website.

Sue Smith – June 2023

‘I love Paris in the springtime…’ goes the song. We were certainly blessed with a magnificent springtime when we held the first National Cancer Support France Presidents’ Conference in May.

The conference, which was opened by Mrs Pamela Deegan, Consular Regional Operations Manager, was held in the ballroom of the British Ambassador’s residence, a beautiful oasis of calm in the capital city. Delegates from ten of our Affiliated Associations, along with the National Bureau held workshops and discussions over two half-days.

We were able to build on the good relationships between Associations with discussions ranging from partnerships and marketing plans, skills-sharing, future planning, general data protection regulations and how we support our volunteers, amongst other subjects.

Our facilitator, who had a background in medical publications and marketing, ably kept us on track in both subject and timings, and our speakers and session leaders produced interesting and thought-provoking sessions. There was also a presentation from Consular Services by staff from the British Consulates of Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille and the information shared between us and them, and the links we have forged, will help us in going forward with our Association’s future.

On the evening of the first day of the conference, we were invited to a reception by Dame Menna Rawlings, the British Ambassador to France and her husband Mark, in the wonderful gardens of the official Residence. Dame Menna addressed those present with a kind and supportive speech recognising the work that we, and all our volunteers do to support vulnerable English-speakers in France. We even had a mention on Twitter! Menna Rawlings tweeted, “Proud to support Cancer Support France, a dedicated group of volunteers who support English-speakers in France, affected by cancer. Thank you to Sue and the Team for all you do.”

The Conference was closed by Mr Theo Rycroft, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy, who echoed Dame Menna’s kind words and thanked us again for the work that we all do.

My thanks, and also from all of all those present, have been passed officially to Dame Menna and indeed, to all the team at the British Embassy, the Ambassador’s Residence and Consular Services for their kind welcome and their support of Cancer Support France.

Sue Smith – May 2023

A team from our Gascony association are making regular visits to patients at the Oncopole cancer research centre / hospital in Toulouse.

Early days

It was during a rendez-vous at Oncopole (a cancer research centre) six or seven years ago that I was thinking of my own experience of cancer treatment and those many ‘chemo days’ when my wonderful professor or one of the medical staff would pop their head into my room and plead that I go and chat to an English-speaking patient down the corridor to try and cheer him or her up which of course, I did, complete with drip in my arm. I pondered why not form a sort of ‘blouses roses‘ team within the Oncopole to help those patients?

And so the Cancer Support France (CSF) visiting team was put into place in 2017, with the help of our President and our Représentante des Usagers (one of the civilian ‘watch-dogs’ at the cancer center, present in French hospitals since 2002). Once the idea was approved by the staff person liaising with associations, appointments were set up by the person responsible for patient / family relations with the head nurses in all of the services. Our President and two Cancer Support France colleagues went together to meet each one, introducing CSF and explaining the project. We were met with great enthusiasm and a first small group of volunteers began making weekly rounds.

How it works

For each visit we call on all the treatment centres / nurse stations asking the nurses on duty whether there are English-speaking patients. On some days, there are merely one or two, on others as many as five or six. Some days are very cheerful, others are heartbreaking. The nurses in each service area have a contact number if our support is needed between weekly visits. We sometimes have to remind people that it is for English-speakers (Anglophones) and not just British people.

A team of two volunteers coordinate the rota and maintain a spreadsheet from weekly volunteer reports to keep track of ‘vital statistics’; how many patients / family members are seen (and who they are), over how long a period, in what service, what support was / is to be provided, and comments. For example, since January 2022, nearly 70 patient visits have taken place.

CSF volunteers making the visits are trained Active Listeners and receive further training for this specific activity from volunteers already on the rota in a buddy system to ‘learn the ropes’. This is invaluable to enable the newbie to become accustomed to the environment and its orientation (Oncopole is an ‘immense ship’). It should be noted, nevertheless, that however good an Active Listener is over the phone, or for accompanying day appointments to the Oncopole, not everyone can cope with a really tough face-to-face visit… and they can be really tough.   As noted, it is nothing to be ashamed of, and I believe this should be pointed out to all Active Listeners before they start visiting. Another interesting thing to note, particularly as our presence is now so well-known at the Toulouse Oncopole, is the number of times we are asked by the medical teams whether we also speak other languages – German, Russian, Georgian, Portuguese, etc. Some of our volunteers do speak languages other than English and French; their skills are welcomed and sought after.

However, it must be stressed that although we offer ‘language suppor’, we are not an official translating or interpretation service – we are not covered legally for such and there is, anyway, one in each hospital. We are there to make sure that patients understand what is going on and to support them and their families as needed.

As an example, a CSF Oncopole visitor was once asked to translate during a telephone call with a doctor in the USA.  The conversation, about a new treatment for a patient, contained a lot of medical terminology. Luckily she was able to call another colleague who is a native French speaker to help out. So, we strongly agree that it should be highlighted that we are not translators; a mistake could cause real problems.

To be able to act as a CSF visitor, it is essential that the volunteer’s French language capability be good enough to converse with the medical teams – good enough to listen to the ‘sous-entendus‘ – and respond in a similar vein when discussing or talking with a patient.

Just sometimes, we come across a ‘new’ medico on the block, who will assume we are there to help merely with the understanding of French, and will sometimes be dismissive of our offer of help, “as the patient speaks good enough/excellent French, and my English is OK”,  so it is necessary to explain our wider support as well.

Visits can be made individually or as a pair with the Buddy system. This has meant that someone not confident in the language can team up with a confident speaker, enabling them to volunteer, and visit. As we have learned over time, the visits can be tough and emotionally draining. Being able to talk together, vent and unload in the car going home or over a coffee afterwards helps a lot to process the emotions.

All of the nursing / care stations have the National CSF leaflets, together with the central telephone number, so they know how to make contact if necessary.

Preparing the future

Time will tell but on a local level, the Toulouse Oncopole draws patients from across Occitanie and beyond, so the potential for action should always be there. More and more Active Listeners are interested in contributing, so more frequent rounds may be envisaged. CSF has definitely become a known player in patient support and has drawn attention to language and cultural needs in patient care.

Some feedback

“First let me thank you for letting us ‘unload’ on you yesterday. It was something of a relief to find an English-speaker to vent [on]”.

“Thanks for thinking of us and for your advice”

Final note

I would like to thank our wonderful team of Active Listeners who have made this work possible, and continue to support English-speaking people who attend the Toulouse Oncopole.

Jayne Ray, President CSF Gascony – March 2023

Did you know that 4th Feb was World Cancer Day, an annual global event, designed to raise people’s awareness of cancer?

Here’s what former CSF President, Penny Parkinson, has to say about the history of World Cancer Day.

“It began on the 4^th February 2000, the date that the World Summit against Cancer for the New Millenium, adopted the Paris Charter. This Charter promotes research to cure. as well as prevent the disease, aims to improve services to patients and mobilises the global community against cancer.

Article 10 of the Charter designated 4^th February as World Cancer Day to ensure that the Charter of Paris would remain in the hearts and minds of people around the world.

With a slogan of “We Can.  I can.”, World Cancer Day encourages us all, both collectively and individually, to play our part. Here in CSF, our Associations use their fundraising activities to raise awareness of cancer and participate with others in campaigns promoting screening.  As individuals, we can also play a part, however small, to support these initiatives.

Do go and have a look at the World Cancer Day website: –  www.worldcancerday.org – it is truly inspiring to see how many people are taking part, from businesses; cancer organisations; cities; governments; healthcare professionals and schools, as well as many individuals. There is a live Twitter feed showing people tweeting from all over the world about what they are doing to get involved on the day, each year. As a cancer sufferer, carer or volunteer, the day shows you that you are not alone.“

World Cancer Day is is the global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). Cancer Support France is a Global Network Member of (UICC), who put this annual event together.

The theme for World Cancer Day 2022-2024 is ‘Close the Care Gap’. Read more about this and what is happening on the day at: –

https://www.uicc.org/what-we-do/convening/world-cancer-day

On the UICC website, you can listen to their: –

• regular podcastes (complete with transcript)
• read up on news and announcements
• read blog articles submitted to the site
• find out about cancer in the news
• discover upcoming events
• look at published reports

Although this is a past event, you can keep up-to-date with future events at:https://www.uicc.org/

Penny Parkinson – April 2023

(Modified by M York – July 2023)

Our new logo has just been announced. Chosen by all our Associations, the reason for the change was to emphasise our name (Cancer Support France) over our abbreviation (CSF), given that our name gives such a clear description of what we offer. It is hoped that this simple change will lead more English-speaking people in France to become aware of us in case they should ever need our support.

The logo at the top our webpage will shortly be updated to reflect the change; in the meantime, here is a sneak preview.

Ian Salvage – February 2023

With summer around the corner, perhaps you are considering a trip to Paris. Why not drop in on this exhibition while you are there.

The exhibition ‘Cancers’, running in Paris until August 2023, has chosen to put the patient at its heart, but also care personnel and carers, using numerous personal stories of life during and after cancer.

It also allows visitors to better understand the illness and its treatments, displaying current scientific knowledge and also covering treatment mechanisms such as conventional therapies (radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery) and new ones (immunotherapy, hormone therapy). It includes sections on risk factors, prevention and screening.

In its desire to provide service to the public, the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie positions the ‘Cancers’ exhibition to make the illness better known (still often taboo in many aspects), and to offer to the public the promising evolutions in research.

Ian Salvage – January 2023

This month, Cancer Support France is supporting Movember.

Movember is one of the leading charities trying to reduce the number of men dying prematurely from prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide.

Movember funds projects around the world, and aims to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25% by 2030.

To sign up to take part or to donate go to either: – uk.movember.com or: – fr.movember.com

Margaret York – November 2022