Our services are free to access but are not free to provide. It costs approximately £2m to run our services across all four centres per year. Our survival relies completely on donation, fundraising and gifts in Wills.

Session limits are generally up to 16 sessions for counselling and our Children and Young People’s Service, and 10 sessions for all other complementary therapies.

Sessions take place at one of our centres in Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal or Barrow. Centres have various opening times, but are usually open at least one evening a week.

Some of our therapists also work from their own private practice which might be nearer to your home. We have also started to offer some sessions over the phone or online for those people who struggle to get into one of our centres.

Yes. All our therapists are qualified and experienced practitioners who meet the requirements of both national and local registering bodies and are fully insured.

Yes, they are welcome. We also provide a service for children bereaved for any reason.

Yes. If you are struggling to get to our centre to attend your appointment we have a team of Volunteer Drivers who can pick you up and take you home afterwards. Please ask a member of our Therapy Coordination Team or your therapist for more information.

If you’re unable to attend your appointment, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer the time to another patient.

Appointments cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice will still need to be paid for by CancerCare.

We are currently experiencing a high number of missed appointments, which costs the charity around £50,000 each year. Letting us know in advance really helps us make the best use of our services for everyone who needs them.

To cancel or rearrange your appointment, please call 01524 381820.

No. Please feel free to drop in to any of our monthly support groups.

Yes, we can text you to remind you about your appointment either on the day or the day before. Just ask your therapist about this service. This can be really helpful when you have a number of appointments to remember, and it keeps our cancellation costs down.

Yes, if you begin counselling or a type of complementary therapy and decide that it’s not right for you at this current time, you can choose to start a different therapy. You may need to speak with our accessor again to decide if the move is right for you, but switching therapies is fine.

We do not recommend seeing more than one therapist at a time as we often have waiting lists for our services and we want to ensure that we are meeting as many clients’ needs as possible.

Your details are kept on a secure database and are confidential within CancerCare. You can ask to see them by writing to the Director of Client Services at our Head Office in Lancaster.

Yes, although we would not usually provide counselling if you are receiving psychological services elsewhere.

Unfortunately there may be times when CancerCare is not the most appropriate service for you. If that is the case, we will do our best to signpost you to the right service.

Yes. We work with anyone affected by cancer and also other potentially life-shortening conditions including MS and Motor Neurone Disease. If in doubt, please ask.

Yes. You can bring someone with you to the initial meeting and subsequently to wait in the lounge for you. Our friendly Receptionists will provide them with a drink while they wait for you.

Our local NHS Trust provides only a small percentage of our funding so voluntary donations are the single most important source of income for CancerCare.

The easiest and quickest way to make a regular donation to CancerCare is by setting up a monthly direct debit. You can do so by completing the form below. We are a registered charity and are therefore very grateful for any contribution you can afford.

Click here to find out how you can make a donation.