Gloucester cancer charity making 'huge difference'

Charlie's offers everything from massages to reflexology

Users of a "completely unique" cancer charity have said it has made a "huge difference" to their mental health.

Charlie's was set up by Jo Sutherland in 2014 to provide holistic therapies to cancer patients.

The charity provides therapies like reiki, performed for free by volunteers, as Mrs Sutherland felt the benefit of holistic therapies following her cancer diagnosis.

She said people "really appreciate" what the Gloucester charity does.

'Life-changing'

Mrs Sutherland launched the charity as she found receiving reiki during her cancer recovery to be "life-changing".

Jo named the charity after her late grandfather who died from lung cancer when she was 14

"I was quite a stressed-out person before my cancer and reiki enabled me to just relax," Mrs Sutherland said.

"I think we're completely unique to other cancer charities around the county because we're purely based on the holistic.

"It's a comfortable environment that isn't clinical, where people can come and surround themselves with people who understand what they're going through."

'Very refreshing place'

Greg Adams first visited Charlie's after his oncologist recommended the charity to him as he was struggling with his mental health.

Greg sometimes pops into Charlie's just for a chat and a cup of tea

"I'd never thought of reiki before but when you relax and get into the sessions you really do feel the benefits," Mr Adams said.

Despite Mr Adams describing Charlie's as the "friendliest club in the world", he is in the minority when it comes to men who make up just 20% of the people who use the charity.

"Unfortunately, it seems that men don't talk that often but it is open to everyone and it's a very refreshing place," he said.

'Just amazing'

Midwife Faye Czajkowski-Davis was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022.

Faye heard about Charlie's through some friends following her diagnosis

"If you ask anyone who has been through cancer, it really is one of those things where you don't know unless you've had it," she said.

"[Charlie's] is just somewhere where you can come and offload completely."

While those who visit Charlie's are not expected to pay anything for their holistic treatments, many end up paying forward.

Mrs Czajkowski-Davis, who has just had her second year clear of cancer, is going to start volunteering at Charlie's as a therapist.