Friends give out 'hug in a bag' to cancer patients

Two women, who became friends while one of them was "terrified" as she waited for her first cancer treatment, have come up with a "hug in a bag" to help other patients going through the same thing.

Maureen Williams, a breast cancer support worker, met Natalie Collins at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool in 2023 and the pair became close friends.

They are now offering other breast cancer patients a bag full of practical items designed to help make life easier when they are going through treatment.

Maureen said she realised she "couldn't go around and give everybody a hug", so developed the initiative after speaking to patients about what would support them.

Similar bags have been given out by other charities across England and often contain a mix of practical items like gentle soaps, scarves, pill organisers and soft toothbrushes and treats like puzzle books or nail varnish.

The items aim to help patients deal with the day-to-day discomfort and emotional effects of diagnosis, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Maureen, who works with patients in some of their most vulnerable moments, said many opened up to her in a way they do not with doctors or nurses.

She told BBC Radio Merseyside they tell her they are often "frightened, scared, and thinking how can the tell their family, 'who's going to be there for me'.

Patients described issues like feeling cold during treatment, struggling with dry skin and nausea, or simply wishing for something comforting to hold on to on difficult days.

Natalie said Maureen became like a "guardian angel" when she was being treated for cancer.

"She met me as a terrified person in the ward waiting for my first treatment," she said.

Now they are working together to offer help to hundreds of patients that go to Clatterbridge for treatment each year.

They are currently fundraising to provide the bags to all breast cancer patients but hope to later extend it to all patients at the hospital.

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