World respected oncologist seesnew plans at The Sara Lee Trust

Patron of The Sara Lee Trust, Professor Sikora, who has forty years experience as an oncologist and is a campaigner for better, universal cancer treatment, took time out of his busy schedule to visit the Trust’s offices and treatment rooms at St Michael’s Hospice, and run through the development plans for the new, dedicated therapy centre the charity aims to open in the centre of Sidley, Bexhill, early next year.

Dan Redsull, Chief Executive of The Sara Lee Trust, says the charity, which provides specialist creative and complementary therapies, psychological and counselling support, and therapeutic group activities free of charge to people in Hastings and Rother who are living with cancer and other life-threatening conditions, is keen to increase the scale, scope and accessibility of it’s services to meet the changing and growing needs of local people, adding: “This will include the enhancement of services delivered at St Michaels Hospice and the Rye, Winchelsea and District Memorial Hospital and also the development of a dedicated Therapy Centre in Sidley, Bexhill.”

Mr Redsull says the Trust is committed to making their service accessible to all in an area where deprivation, early death and health inequalities are significantly worse than the national average. He said: “From complementary to medical care, the Trust offers time, meaningful touch and support, so that each person may live life as fully as possible, even with a life threatening diagnosis.”

Professor Sikora said complementary medicine is a useful strategy to allay patients’ fears and anxieties away from the mechanistic base of modern cancer treatment, adding: “Support from organisations like the Sara Lee Trust is for many people a vital component of being healed. There is much we have to learn about the best way to treat cancer but there is no doubt that this approach can be very beneficial.”

Mr Redsull said having Professor Sikora‘s expertise is a valuable asset to the charity. “It is absolutely wonderful to have the support of our Patron, Professor Sikora behind this project. His years of experience as an oncologist will allow us to ensure that the centre we develop will provide the best in patient care, whilst meeting the needs of the local community. As we seek funding to build and run the new centre, his expertise in launching innovative cancer treatment centres through Cancer Partners UK will be invaluable.”