00:00After having cancer myself, I applied for a job working on a mobile cancer care unit
00:06which is run by the NHS from Canterbury Hospital but it soon became very apparent that the
00:17unit itself is run by a charity and I got involved virtually straight away with the
00:24charity and I've done numerous everything from opening flower shows to doing
00:30presentations for organisations like Rotary Club, Round Table, Inner Wheel, that sort of
00:38thing, Masonic Lodges, all sorts of things I've done presentations too and which I
00:47ended up, now I'm one of their community champions so but it's all culminated now
00:55with me getting a call a few weeks ago inviting me to go up to Buckingham Palace
01:00next Wednesday to meet Charles and Camilla at a reception for cancer
01:05charities that make a difference to local communities, raise awareness and
01:12support people with cancer which is exactly what we do and Hope for Tomorrow
01:19is just amazing how it keeps going but as it has become apparent they get
01:26absolutely no government funding so there are numerous ways that people can raise
01:31money to support Hope for Tomorrow. I'll ask people to go and have a look on their
01:36website because they can find out what they can do, how they can get involved, the
01:41unit that I drive is actually named Karen after Karen Keating, Gloria
01:45Hunniford's daughter, former Blue Peter presenter and it was named in
01:52memory of her. We have initiatives like the Cup of Cancer which happens
01:59every February, where groups of people get together, talk about cancer, sell
02:07cakes and stuff like that and raise money for it. It's a really amazing thing that
02:11you do for these communities. I think it's really interesting because you can see the
02:15unit that you drive behind you on the screen. I kind of wanted to know a bit
02:19more about these mobile care units because it's something you don't really think
02:21about, right? You normally go to hospital for your treatment but obviously Kent's a
02:25really rural community, like a really rural county and it really helps kind of
02:30bring that treatment and support and diagnosis to the communities as well, right?
02:34The advantage of what we do is the fact that at the moment we go to three
02:42locations around South East Kent. We go to Dover, we go to Folkestone and we go to
02:48Herne Bay and every patient that comes on to us is one less patient that has to go
02:53into the hospital environment so it's taking the strain off the hospital. It makes life so much better
03:02for the patients themselves and the families and not having to go into a main
03:07hospital environment and the continuity of care is just so much better. My actual,
03:14because they're dealing with the same people all the time and a small, I work
03:19with an absolutely amazing team of people and it works really really well which is
03:24why I'm so passionate about it. But I'm very fortunate now the fact I've been
03:31working on this for 12 years after I retired from the fire service. I wanted to
03:37give something back and this is my opportunity to do it. There's a, around the
03:41country there's been an army of people that have done various fundraising events
03:46like my actual team that I work with. Two of them have just done the London
03:50Landmark Marathon with a family member of one of the team as well which was very
03:56successful and I would just like to ask anybody that they can to help it because
04:01the feedback that we've had from our patients over the years is just amazing
04:05and I genuinely feel that it's a worthwhile thing for people to support.
04:11Yeah I mean you treated nearly 3,600 patients last year and which is
04:17extraordinary and not only in of itself that you helped all these people but
04:21that there's such a need for this service and I mean how must that feel to help
04:26all these different people? It's a great feeling which is which is why I do it
04:32because I took it on after I retired then when I did it full-time for 10
04:37years and then when I got to national retirement age I went part-time that was a
04:43couple of years ago and I've jokingly said that I'll review the situation when I'm
04:4770 which isn't that far away but we'll see how it goes but at the moment I feel
04:52like I'm making a difference I thoroughly enjoy what what I do and having this
04:57invitation to Buckingham Palace at the end of it well now has just I don't know it
05:05just makes things sort of worthwhile and it just makes you think that over these
05:09years somebody has noticed something that you've done you know which is a lovely
05:12feeling. Has you been on such an extraordinary journey because you started getting your
05:17treatment for your autistic cancer at Kent and Canterbury Hospital? I did. Now you drive the
05:22unit there and now you go to Buckingham Palace did you ever imagine? No I didn't. All those
05:25years ago? No because I had my treatment from 1986 into 1987 and then I
05:33continued on with my career after that I had a couple of
05:38operations and a very aggressive chemotherapy regime and then I moved on
05:44finished my career in the fire service and I wanted to give something back I
05:47didn't think that at my age now I'd still be doing it still enjoying it and still
05:53doing something that I feel is worthwhile as part of a great team and I think I'm
05:59very privileged to still be here doing it.
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