Group Support

Funding secured from the National Lottery Community Fund enables us to expand the support we can offer to people affected by cancer.

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes more than £600 million per year raised by players of the National Lottery, to communities across the UK.

This funding allows the Beatson Cancer Charity to support more people through our group programmes than ever before.

What is the Living with Uncertainty project?

The Living with Uncertainty project consists of two separate group programmes which aim to support participants to face the challenges and worries associated with a cancer diagnosis.
The Fear of Recurrence group programme is for those who experience a fear of their cancer coming back, which has a significant impact on mood, work, relationships, or enjoyment of life.
The Fear of Recurrence programme has previously been offered to those with a breast cancer diagnosis and we are delighted to be able to expand this to be offered to all cancer types, as part of this project.
This funding has also allowed us to develop a second group programme called Living with Uncertainty.
The Living with Uncertainty group programme is offered to those living with cancer or who have a high likelihood of cancer returning.

Is this type of support right for me?

The group programmes we offer support participants to explore their fears while developing coping skills and self-management techniques.
The support of others, within a group setting, experiencing similar challenges can be very helpful.
It can be reassuring to know others share similar experiences and inspiring to witness others start to overcome their struggles.
The group programmes are both designed to offer structured psychological support based on an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT for short, said like the word “act”) approach.

What is Acceptance & Commitment Therapy?

ACT aims to help people to take active steps towards building a life that feels full and meaningful to them, even in the presence of difficulties.
At the same time, it helps develop skills to deal with painful thoughts and feelings, so that they have less impact and influence on day-to-day life.
There is a focus on identifying personal values and goals.
A range of techniques are taught which help people move forward in a way that makes life meaningful.