"Very welcomed by the Fern team"

I recently participated in a new initiative organised by The Fern Centre – a resource based at the Northern Devon District Hospital – supporting both those living with cancer and their families.

An e-mail arrived in my in-box inviting those known to be living with cancer to a virtual coffee morning. Being, an elderly male, I was not sure this was for me. However, I decided to give it a try and followed the on-screen instructions to register my interest. This resulted in a very welcoming e-mail with full instructions on how to log-on with additional practice.

Come the day and time I logged-on and was made very welcome by the Fern team and other participants even though I was the only male present. I am so pleased that I decided to opt in as what followed was a wonderful hour on conversation, a mix of personal stories, humour and non-judgemental chat. It was an opportunity to talk openly about our individual cancer journeys without embarrassment with others who understood the highs and lows – something not always easy to do with those who sere not travelling a similar journey. It is anticipated that this will become a regular fortnightly event which I would strongly support as it helps our feeling of well being, provides an opportunity to make new friends travelling the same journey and combats loneliness.