Our Patient Voices Group is the only UK national patient-to-patient network for people suffering from bowel cancer.  The group has also expanded to include close relatives of bowel cancer patients. Members of the group are willing to help in a number of ways:

Patient-to-patient support: patients in the group are happy to talk to other patients about their experience of bowel cancer, either on the telephone, by email or even through local support groups that they have established. We can put patients in touch with each other -matching them by age, region or their stage of bowel cancer and treatment pathway. Relatives of patients can also benefit from this support as we are able to put them in touch with other people who have a loved one with bowel cancer.

Raising awareness: at the charity, we are working hard to encourage people to talk openly about the disease, to raise awareness of symptoms and promote early diagnosis. If you have bowel cancer (either undergoing treatment or recovered), or a close relative of a bowel cancer patient, your help in getting this message across will be invaluable, as you will know, better than anyone, the importance of educating people about bowel cancer. Patients in the group help us by talking about their experience to the media, to their local MP, within local organisations/companies, or at committee meetings.

Fundraising: some patients want to wave the flag for bowel cancer in their local area, and organise fundraising events to raise money for Beating Bowel Cancer.

Other: Some of our Patient Voices decide that they would like to become involved with the work at the charity's headquarters, and we are always grateful for any additional voluntary help they can offer us in our offices. Others come up with their own ways of getting involved and raising awareness - from producing booklets, websites and 'blogs' about their bowel cancer journey, to distributing our leaflets outside their local supermarket or GP surgery.

The group is informal and patients and/or their relatives can be as involved as their time and lifestyle allows. Some people choose to get involved across the whole spectrum whilst others concentrate on one aspect. Many of our Patient Voices find that being part of the group also helps them come to terms with their illness.

If you would like to join the Patient Voices Group, click here or call Suzie Scaddan, Head of Patient Services, on 020 8892 5256.

A Bowel Cancer Patient Perspective -
Ken's Story
Click here to watch the video »

Looking for support?

If you would like to speak to another bowel cancer patient, please contact Suzie Scaddan, our Head of Patient Services on 020 8892 5256 who can put you in touch with someone. We will endeavour to find someone for you to talk to who has gone through similar experiences to you and/or is of a similar age or personal circumstances.