Fleggburgh sewers make 100 cushions for breast cancer patients

Julie Wood with one of the cushions for people with breast cancer

A needlecraft group has made 100 cushions to help breast cancer patients feel more comfortable.

The heart-shaped pillows were made by a dozen women who meet at the village hall in Fleggburgh near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

They decided to sew the cushions after member Julie Woods' daughter began treatment for breast cancer.

Patients often experience chest caused by the arm pressing against the breast.

Ms Woods, 74, from Gorleston, said: "It's placed under the arm, and it takes the pressure, so the arm is not rubbing against where the cancer is, or where there's been a mastectomy."

The cushions are being sent to oncology units at the James Paget and the Norfolk and Norwich University hospitals

Quilter Margaret Easen, whose husband died of cancer, said making the cushions helped with her own grief.

"Anything you can do for people with cancer is a good thing. It was good for me to do something, to give something back," said Ms Easen.

Fellow quilter Linda Calnon, from Caister, said her friend had been using a cushion for more than three years to help take pressure away from her scar, and added: "We had real fun making them, it was like a sweatshop.

The cushions were made over two weeks and will go to oncology clinics at the Norfolk and Norwich University and James Paget hospitals.