Cancer support unit will be 'true community hub'

The Macmillan Cancer Support Centre will be based at York Hospital

A dedicated cancer support centre at York Hospital will be a "true community hub", a charity has said.

Artists' impressions offer a glimpse inside the Macmillan Cancer Support Centre, with a £2.4m expansion and refurbishment of existing facilities due to be completed early next year.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the centre would have a "modern homely feel, creating a welcoming holistic space".

The centre would include green space, including a garden quiet pod, "offering patients and clinical staff a calm environment for important conversations", a spokesperson said.

The expansion is thanks to a partnership between the trust and the charity Macmillan Cancer Support.

The trust said the centre would significantly improve support services for people living with cancer and their loved ones.

The trust says the interior of the centre will be of "gold standard"

More than 60 local people affected by cancer have helped design the centre through activities including workshops, forums and surveys.

Angie Lunt, who has lived experience of breast cancer, said: "I can't stress how important these centres are.

"We need this safe, welcoming place for anyone affected by cancer now and in the future. I'm so pleased to be able to use my experience to help."

Steven McIntosh, chief partnerships officer with Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "The expansion will play a crucial role in helping even more people living with cancer in the region.

"The new centre has been designed not just as a building, but as a true community hub, a place that recognises the growing and complex needs of people living with cancer and will support them, as well as their families, to get the right help at the right time."

Planning permission has been granted for the centre, with work due to get under way in September.

The centre is expected to open in spring 2026.

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