Three women sitting in a circle in a cancer support group

Macmillan community innovation project

WCVA has partnered with Macmillan Cancer Support to find out why specific communities aren’t engaging fully with cancer services, how this could be improved and how the voluntary sector could further enhance this work.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

WCVA has partnered with Macmillan to explore interventions and services at a community level that support equal access to Macmillan information and support services across Wales.

Getting the right support at the right time is vital for people with cancer, and this project aims to help everyone with cancer to access the information and support services they need, when they need them the most.

Macmillan offers a huge variety of support for patients throughout their cancer journey, but some groups and communities do not engage with these services as fully as others. Our aim is to work with these groups, to find out why this is the case and design solutions to help improve access to services. The Wales Cancer improvement plan 2023-2026 sets out an ambition for Wales to improve cancer patient outcomes and reduce health inequalities.

We will work with the voluntary sector, using participative approaches to understand the barriers and opportunities to accessing services. We’ll use the research to make recommendations to Macmillan to help ensure everyone in Wales can benefit from their services. 

TIMESCALE

This project is funded by Macmillan Cancer Support, it commenced in January 2023 and will conclude in January 2025. The project will be split into five stages:

Stage 1: January 2023 to April 2023 – Project development and research

Stage 2: April 2023 to September 2023 – Community engagement and research

Stage 3: October 2023 to January 2024 – Planning the way forward

Stage 4: February 2024 to September 2024 – Testing approaches in action

Stage 5: Project closure and celebration

GET IN TOUCH

We want to hear your thoughts about how people and communities engage with cancer services. If you are interested in finding out more or want to get involved, please contact:

Eleanor Jones, Macmillan Community Innovation Manager

ejones@wcva.cymru

02920 436597

Macmillan continues to do everything they can to help.  If you have been affected by cancer and need advice, information, or a chat, you can call Macmillan for free on 0808 808 0000 or visit macmillan.org.uk.

Logo for Macmillan Cancer Support