To all the network members and stakeholders

As many of you know, I am the founder and chair and created the network in 2019 in North Tyneside with a handful of small charities dedicated to making a difference for cancer patients and their loved ones in the North. There is no other similar network in the UK and people affected by cancer need this additional support which simply is not offered by the NHS for many.   I have been passionate and proud of the way the network has grown in the past five years through the ongoing work of coordinators and steering group and all the volunteers who have made it work so well.

I wish to particularly thank Lorna Joisce for all her hard work and determination in developing the events, newsletters and network in the past few months.  She truly elevated the trust and relationships across not only the third sector, but also engaged with the public sector stakeholders so that many joined and were keen to work alongside us.

The network has been hosted by Coping with Cancer since the beginning and received funding from Northern Cancer Alliance, The Lottery and more recently MacMillan to enable the network to continue.  Unfortunately Coping with Cancer was shut last month because of unsurmountable financial challenges.  The charity has struggled finding match funding for its NHS contracts which were not paid at full cost recovery rates for many years and experienced a decline in their grants and trusts funding more recently.  With the lack of fundraising capacity, and many last ditch appeals for help not being realised, the trustees unfortunately made the decision to close the charity last month and all the staff have been made redundant, including myself and Lorna.

I have spent the last few weeks believing that a new host would be able to take the network on but unfortunately the funder is unable to novate the contract in time.  Sadly, this has meant that the network now needs to close.  All events and communications are to be cancelled immediately. Thank you all for your energy and commitment in making this work, it is with great sadness I say goodbye to you all.

Maggie Bailey