Barnsley Hospital have teamed up with international charity ‘Look Good Feel Better’ (LGFB) to launch a series of beauty workshops for women undergoing cancer treatment.
The workshops were set up in response to women wanting to make themselves look and feel better as they were having cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Through the therapeutic and psychological benefits of a 12-step make-up programme, the workshops help women combat the visible side effects of cancer treatment. The courses which are managed by the cancer services team at Barnsley, have now successfully run their third series.
Alison Spencer, from Barnsley Hospital’s Business Support Cancer Services, leads the courses. She said:
“We’re delighted with how the courses are being received, we’ve had fantastic feedback.
“This is for all women. We’ve had women of 22 to 75 years old attending and it doesn’t matter what sort of cancer you’re being treated for.
“The course is about more than just make up, it’s a window in the day to forget about cancer treatment and get back to being you again.
“The women we’ve had on the course have loved chatting and laughing together; friendships have been formed.
“This all started with a passing conversation at the hospital nearly three years ago, and now we’re proud to be making a real difference to women in the town.
“I feel really honoured to be part of this; a first for Barnsley.”
To qualify to attend, women must be receiving cancer treatment and resident in Barnsley. There are more workshops coming up in 2019. Women can be referred by their Clinical Nurse Specialist or by calling Alison Spencer on 01226 431 303.
Barnsley Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are working with Macmillan Cancer Support to ensure that patients can easily access this kind of support. Macmillan have funded three Macmillan Cancer Support Workers to work alongside the Clinical Nurse Specialists. These new roles will ensure patients are signposted to appropriate services and courses, such as Look Good Feel Better, supporting people to live as well as they can at any point in their cancer journey.
Find out more about the Macmillan Living With And Beyond Cancer Programme.