Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation has been awarded £57k from National Lottery Community Fund to help support its Ask the Nurse and Keep in Touch support services.

The Ask the Nurse service offers information, advice and support to people affected by lung cancer. During the pandemic demand for the service has increased significantly, with calls up 93% compared to the previous year.

People with lung cancer are amongst the most vulnerable if they contract Covid-19. Understandably, this has caused a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety, with some patients even having their treatment paused during the peak of the pandemic. Lung cancer nurse specialists were also drafted in to help on the frontline, meaning they weren’t as readily available to answer patient questions or provide much-needed support.

Fortunately, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation’s Ask the Nurse helpline was able to bridge this gap and ensure those with lung cancer had the support they needed.

During the peak of the pandemic, the charity launched its Keep in Touch support service, ensuring patients who were shielding had clinical or practical support as well as simple human contact during these anxious and lonely times.

Vicky is one of the nurses on the helpline

Lorraine Dallas is the Director of Patient Information and Support at the charity:

“We would like to thank the National Lottery Community and the Government for this much-needed funding. We are delighted to receive such a substantial amount for our Ask the Nurse and Keep in Touch support services, which have, and continue to be a lifeline to so many people living with lung cancer in these unprecedented times.

Many people, when they are first told they have lung cancer, are completely overwhelmed and are unable to take in all the information. However, once the news has sunk in, people often have many questions – about their diagnosis, the type of lung cancer they have and the potential treatments available. What Covid has done is add further anxiety, confusion and fear to an already terrifying and devastating situation.

Our lung cancer helpline and keep in touch service is here to answer all questions and support both patients and loved ones through what is most likely the worst time of their lives.”

Alison is one of the many people who have used the Ask the Nurse service. She called on behalf of her sister, Vicky, who is living with incurable lung cancer.

Vicky had been receiving treatment for the last three years, but then her disease spread, and she couldn’t access the only other treatment that might help.

Alison, called our nurse-led helpline for advice and armed with the necessary information, Vicky has now been given access to a new treatment, which could give her more time with her three children.

Lorraine concludes:

“Vicky’s story is just one example of how our Ask the Nurse and Keep in Touch support services are supporting the thousands of people who are living with lung cancer.

The funding from the National Lottery Community Fund ensures we can continue to offer these essential service more people like Alison and Vicky for a further six months.”