Giving back

"Charity is for those in need"

Any amount of money can never replace the feeling of joy when you know you are able to help and give a little back to those who need it most. Last Thursday, as part of the EY Womens Network I joined with other EY colleagues in helping out at the Breast Cancer Haven in Fulham for the day. The charity opened in the year 2000 from a lady called Sara Davenport whose nanny suffered from breast cancer and wanted to create an environment for those who are affected by breast cancer away from the environment of hospitals which can at times be stressful to cancer patients. As I arrived in the morning at the Haven, I was impressed by the layout of the place. I was expecting a run down building but instead I arrived to a bright airy reception. The day started out with an introduction to the place by the Corporate Fundraiser-Maxine. She is as enthusiastic as you would think a fundraiser should be... We were split into groups and I wanted to help out with the gardening but the slots were taken up quickly by other people. Instead, I volunteered to wash the walls on all the floors around the building....it sounds really mundane but by cleaning the place up gives it a new lease of life.... In the afternoon, my team went to the streets around Fulham sending mail out promoting on the programmes run at the Haven and leaflets outlining what the charity did. When we were washing the walls we visited each of the floors we were able to gain an insight on the facilities available at the Haven. The Haven is a drop-in centre and the building consists of rooms where treatments such as acupuncture or counselling sessions take place. There are also rooms where classes like yoga and makeup classes take place. Each room has a name such as Rose, Lavender etc..which all have a homely feel to it. This was a recurrent theme throughout the whole place. In the lower ground floor, there is a working kitchen where volunteers come to cook for visitors to the Haven and also the staff working there. The volunteers cook recipes catered for visitors with various needs and even sell products (mainly organic in nature) to visitors who are interested.

The Haven offers series of cooking programmes for those who are undergoing treatment or those who have recovered from breast cancer... The volunteers were kind enough to cook us lunch as well. Food plays an important part in someone's recovery from cancer treatment therefore the ingredients used are important. The Haven is one of a kind in London and have expanded in another two locations in the UK. However, opening and maintaining a Haven costs money-fundraising is key... This charity is a small organisation so Maxine explained that initially when the Haven was opened they had to rely on high profile organisations to raise money in a short time. For example , last year they held a function at the Natural History Museum attended by celebrities. The cost of the ticket would only cover running the event therefore the charity relies on people spending money during the night e.g. at the charity auctions. In one night, you could potentially raise at least GBP50k in one night. However, due to the high costs of running the event and times of recession it is not possible to hold such events on a regular basis as people are not willing to spend as much money.

Therefore the Haven needs to expand ther network and raise awareness of the existence of charity. I raised the question whether funding is shared amongst other cancer charities like Cancer Research UK. Unfortunately, funding is not allocated across other cancer charities so each charity is to thier own although they do work together. The Breast Cancer Haven are trying to work with private medical insurance companies in order to provide specialist services with patients under these companies who may need it. In principle , the NHS are suppose to be doing this but due to the intense pressure NHS are already under it is not possible for NHS to provide palliative care to all of their patients. It is not easy to raise money consistently for a cause you believe in but if people believe in what the organisation is doing and feel strongly about it..there is still hope.

Throughout the day, I saw some of the visitors attending the classes such as the yoga classes and you can see from their faces that the Haven does make a difference in their lives. If I won the lottery, I would love to quit my job and spend my time working for various voluntary organisations and actually making a real contribution to this world...in issues such as health and world poverty..

Well, I may not win the lottery anytime soon so in the meantime I am trying to do whatever I can within my means to help out with various organisations... My future intention would be to get involved with the VSO -Voluntary Services Organisation but this may be put on hold after I move back home for good.

A few weeks ago, I ran in the Race for Life charity run at Hyde Park with two of my friends. It was a great day and thoroughly enjoyable...Cancer has affected us in one way or another...I have seen family friends suffered with their loved ones and close friends who have lost loved ones through this disease...The Race for Life day was an event of raising awareness on the disease as well as recognising the lives that have been lost and also to those who have survived through the research in this disease which would only happen through the funds raised by people fighting for the cause.

When I was doing my A-levels I had originally wanted to study medicine and become a doctor. However, I didn't feel that I could face the emotional challenges I would face in training as a doctor.

As corny as this may sound to you, I have tried to be a person who would always try to help people in whatever I can with no strings attached. I would like to think whatever I do is out of sincerity. This can sometimes make me appear as someone who is 'weak' and 'can be taken for a ride' but if that's what people think only God knows what my sincere intentions are. I'd rather be that person than someone who is selfish and thinks of what would be best for them and them alone...

I believe charity can come in any types of form..even a smile is a charitable need. When someone is feeling down-a smile from a stranger can brighten someone's day... I hope those of you who read this article would reflect on whether you try to do a charitable deed however small you think it is. Whatever charitable deed it may be, the impact can be greater than what you think to the particular individual so keep doing it. If you are interested in finding out about the Haven it is on http://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk