Increase in Moray support hours for leading Cancer charity

CLAN to extend their support service in Moray

A leading cancer support charity is looking to increase its pool of volunteers in Moray after it announced an extension of its opening hours in Elgin.

CLAN Cancer Support established a permanent presence in Moray in 2013, with its drop-in centre on the town’s High Street open four days a week offering a range of support, information, counselling and complementary therapies for anyone affected by cancer.

From this week the centre is now also open on a Friday between 10am and 4pm in response to an increase in demand for the charity’s services within the area.

The extension of hours will also coincide with the charity increasing the number of reflexology and massage appointments that it offers from its Elgin base.

Tracy Sellar, CLAN’s Moray services co-ordinator, said: “This expansion is the latest development that we’ve pursued in an effort to allow our cancer support services to be as accessible as possible for the people of Elgin and the surrounding area.

“We’ve seen fantastic uptake of our various services in the town throughout the past year and we’re delighted to now be in the position of having our drop-in centre on Elgin’s High Street operational five days a week.

“CLAN is committed to offering our free support services across the north-east of Scotland and Moray and this extension of hours, as well as the increase in complementary therapy appointments, reinforces this further.”

Now the charity is also looking to widen its pool of support volunteers within the region.

Support volunteers offer those affected by a cancer diagnosis an opportunity to talk with someone who can listen and provide emotional support. To ensure support volunteers are equipped to provide clients with the right level of emotional support, a full induction and COSCA (Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland) validated training will be provided by CLAN’s training team.

CLAN is also appealing for volunteer drivers to help transport clients to appointments at hospitals in both Inverness and Aberdeen.

Jane Adams, CLAN’s volunteer co-ordinator, said: “CLAN’s team of volunteers is incredibly important to the charity and we are continually grateful for the level of support shown from local people from the wide range of areas we operate in.

“We would like to increase the number of support volunteers in Elgin as well our number of volunteer drivers who play a vital role in helping transport our clients to appointments at Dr Gray’s hospital.

“People who volunteer with CLAN can often find it very rewarding as well as a great method of giving something back to a charity that works in their local community. You don’t need to be an expert in support volunteering; full training will be given and we’re always here to help you on every step of the way.”

Those interested in becoming involved with CLAN are asked to register an interest with CLAN’s volunteer co-ordinator Jane Adams by November 7. An induction evening for interested volunteers will be held at the Youth Café  on Thursday, November 20.

Please contact Jane Adams on 01224 647000 or visit www.clanhouse.org for more details.

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