Help us launch our new Comfort Kits.
Raised so far:
£13,432
Enough to fill
537 Comfort Kits
Our Comfort Kits have been designed specifically for older patients like Peter. Filled with comforting and soothing items, the Kit is like a warm hug for someone feeling lonelier than ever.
Thank you! With your help we have already raised over £13,000 – so we can fund more than 500 new Comfort Kits ready to send to older patients this winter. But there’s still time to donate!
At Cancer Support UK, we are constantly thinking about ways to reach even more cancer patients. Our new Comfort Kit is designed for older people who may have different needs to younger cancer patients. The new Kit focuses on items that provide warmth and comfort, such as a warmable hot water bottle (which can be popped in the microwave), heat pads to ease aches and pains that may come as a result of treatment, and a travel pillow to make long spells in hospital that bit easier. There are also practical items like a magnifying glass (to read prescriptions and other medical instructions) and a note book and pen, for recording important information.
For older people who may live alone or have fewer friends or relatives to turn to, the pack is also a lifeline during what can be the loneliest time in their life.
With your support, we could help more patients like Peter, who’s 85 and lives alone. In January 2020, Peter was given the deeply upsetting news that he had skin cancer. Just after his final operation in March 2020, the UK went into lockdown, depriving Peter of precious family contact as he recovered. Peter really missed seeing his family.
Today, Peter is in a much better place. His daughter is able to visit him again and he’s finally seen his grandchildren after 18 long months. He’s also recently adopted a rescue dog called Prima, who’s keeping him company!
Every £25 we raise will help to fund a Comfort Kit.
If you can, please help us today. With your support, we’ll make sure patients like Peter receive a Comfort Kit. Full of comforting, soothing items, it’s a warm hug for someone who’s feeling lonelier than ever before.
Elderly cancer patients often have different needs, which is why we’ve designed our new Comfort Kits. With your help, we can send them out this winter to the people who need them the most.
Raised so far:
£13,432
Enough to fill
537 Comfort Kits
Our Comfort Kits have been designed specifically for older patients like Peter. Filled with comforting and soothing items, the Kit is like a warm hug for someone feeling lonelier than ever.
Every £25 you donate could help fill a Comfort Kit:
Hot Water bottle – to keep an older person warm. Cancer treatments can make a person feel even colder, so a warmable bottle can keep an older person comfortable – and there is no boiling water involved – as these are simply heated up in the microwave.
Magnifying glass – it is important for an older person to be able to read medical notes and medication instructions clearly – including any fine print.
Anti-sickness bands – these help alleviate the nausea associated with some cancer treatments – but with no side effects.
Heat pad – these can sooth aches and pains that can come with treatment.
Travel pillow – people sometimes take their own pillow to hospital for treatment to make it more comfortable during potentially hours of sitting in the same spot. These pillow are comfortable – and are light and easy to carry.
Sherbet lemons – these take away the metallic taste of the chemo.
Note book and pen – for recording all the important hospital information in one place.
Antibacterial hand gel – important for people with low immunity to keep germs at bay, particularly during the pandemic.
Tissues – for when the journey is tough.