Coffee morning celebration marks start of project to tackle inequality in cancer care
September 27 was the day of Macmillan Cancer Support’s annual Coffee Morning fundraising event, and for Ameena from Sandwell who has stage 4 cancer, the day was an emotional one.
The event officially launched the Community Connectors – a new Macmillan funded team that will tackle the poor cancer experiences and outcomes that can affect people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities.
The new team will help tackle inequality in cancer care across the Black Country and west Birmingham.
For Ameena, it brought the realisation of a dream that she has been working tirelessly towards since her own cancer diagnosis seven years ago, as well as the cancer diagnosis of her mother, and her father who passed away with stomach cancer in 2019.
That effort has included founding face to face support services and a Facebook support group with more than 600 members, as well as being central to the new Community Connector team which will support communities across Sandwell, the Black Country and west Birmingham.
Ameena said: “This seed was planted when I saw first hand the barriers that people from ethnically diverse communities can face when it comes to understanding cancer and accessing the care and treatment they need.
“The cancer journey can be difficult enough before you factor in things like language barriers if your first language isn’t English, or the cultural and religious differences that need to form a part of any open conversation about cancer.
“I just knew I wanted to improve things, to be there for others in the same position as me, and I realised it was our communities themselves who were best placed to do it. When it comes to talking about cancer, we need people who look like us, think like us, speak like us and who hold the same traditions and beliefs to have that conversation with us. We are the people who know ourselves the best.
“I really didn’t think I’d see this day come. As we were finalising things to get this project off the ground, I was rocked by the news I had stage 4 cancer. But while I might be aching, I might have my head in a bucket and be feeling sick from my cancer treatment, this is my baby, my dream. And it is now going to be my legacy.
“I joke with my family who say, “you can’t pop your clogs yet, you’ve got a two-year contract.” And while there is anger and fear over my diagnosis, this is how I have chosen to channel it – to empower people with a better understanding of cancer and to break down the barriers that exist to people getting the care they need.
“That is exactly what the community connectors are here to do, and I know that together we can make a real difference in the lives of people affected by cancer. I’ll be here to my last breath to support and improve the cancer journey for others.”
Ameena is part of a team of five new community connectors and a programme manager who will work within and for their local communities, with the project being supported by a £670,000 investment from Macmillan over the next two and a half years.
The project brings together an exciting new partnership between Macmillan and the Bangladesh Islamic Association Smethwick, the Nishkam Civic Association, West Bromwich African Caribbean Resource Centre, Yemeni Community Association in Sandwell and the Black Country Integrated Care Board.
It aims to better understand the barriers that exist to people finding and accessing support, and to increase people’s knowledge of cancer symptoms – all to help shape services that better meet peoples’ individual needs.
The project is part of Macmillan Cancer Support’s wider efforts to tackle the fact that people from ethnically diverse backgrounds are significantly more likely to report poorer overall experiences of their cancer care.
Jessica Timmins, Macmillan Partnership Manager said: “It is a privilege to be part of this partnership, working within the communities Macmillan is here to serve to make sure that everyone, no matter who you are or where you live, can get the cancer information, support and care they need.”
The Mayor of Sandwell, Cllr Syeda Khatun MBE, who hosted the event said: “I am truly honoured that Ameena approached me to host this important event as it is a subject close to my heart. People on a cancer journey and their families have enough to deal with without also encountering barriers to information and support.”
If you are concerned about cancer and need advice, information and support, you can contact the Community Connectors team on:
Kassie Styche, Programme Manager, Black Country Integrated Care Board, 07963784544, Kassandra.styche@nhs.net
Sukhvinder Uppal, Nishkam Community Connector, 07727 354184, sukhy.uppal@ncauk.org
Ravinder Dhanjal, Nishkam Community Connector, 07727 354119, ravinder.dhanjal@ncauk.org
Nila Akram, Bangladeshi Islamic Centre Community Connector, 07960 388164, nila@bicentre.org.uk
Ameena Westwood, Yemini Community Association Community Connector, 07436 942544, ameena@yca-sandwell.org.uk
Veronica Howe, West Bromwich Afro Caribbean Resource Centre Community Connector, 07535 951498, veronica.howe@wbacrc.org.uk
By Stu Hodges - contributor
