'I set up a cancer group to give something back'

Graham Cheshire has fully recovered from stomach cancer and wants to help others

A Shropshire man says founding a cancer support group helps him to give back, after recovering from the disease.

Graham Cheshire, who had stomach cancer, set up the Ludlow Men Like Us group, which sees cancer patients meet every month to socialise.

The initiative started in Shrewsbury, before expanding to the market town in September to support more men.

"I know I was very lucky to survive my cancer challenge, and I just want to help these guys get through it as well," Mr Cheshire told the BBC.

"I just feel as if I'm being a little bit helpful, that's all. I just want to give a bit back."

The groups are overseen by staff from the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), and began because of a fear that male cancer patients were too isolated.

Katey Evans said the sessions lift people's spirits

The sessions are held away from medical settings, at the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury, and St Peter's Church in Ludlow.

"You can see from the beginning of a conversation almost to when they leave a room, how people's spirits are lifted already," said Katey Evans, personalised care navigator at the trust.

"None of it is ground-breaking, it's nothing complicated but actually that peer support from people who really know what you're going through, is really powerful."

Martin Thomas co-founded one of the Men Like Us groups

The Shrewsbury group was co-founded by Martin Thomas, who has suffered prostate cancer.

"We've been absolutely blown away with the support and interest that we've seen from guys that come along," he said.

"They, in turn, just seem to welcome being in a shared space with some common interest, very common stories very often, and they're taking a tremendous amount of uplift from it."

The aim is to expand further, with the setting up of more groups around Shropshire.