News

Sunraysia Cancer Resources extends office hours

Fri, 17 Mar 2017 04:06:00

A unique community organisation that’s supported Sunraysia people diagnosed with cancer for nearly a decade is now trialling an expansion of its services.

Sunraysia Cancer Resources’ 10th Street shopfront is one of the only services of its type in country Victoria, providing information about all types of cancer, as well as practical help for clients travelling to access treatment.
The service has operated four days a week until now, but Centre Manager Viona Woodroffe said in response to demand and client feedback, Sunraysia Cancer Resources had started opening its doors five days a week to better assist clients and their families.
“Our mission is to be there for people when they need us and we know that’s very highly-valued by our clients and by the community,” Ms Woodroffe said.
“Demand for the services we provide is continuing to grow and we felt, considering the practical factors, having people know we are open each weekday would be a really positive step,” she said.
“At this stage, we are funding the trial of the extended hours with some additional volunteer support for three months, then we will evaluate whether we sustain that level of service long-term.”
The Sunraysia Cancer Resources shopfront service is a unique community-driven and funded service focused entirely on supporting members of the local community through a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Support services include a library of information and resources on various forms of cancer, linkages to cancer-specific support organisations and practical assistance with accessing funding and services for people having to travel for treatment.
Ms Woodroffe said this week saw the opening day for the extended service.
“On an average day, we have around 18 people either come in or contact us for information, support or as an ongoing client – on our first Monday, we had 16 contacts, so it was almost like a ‘normal’ day,” Ms Woodroffe said.
“Most of those people indicated they had ‘just seen us open’, or found us open when they arrived – so if we hadn’t been open those people would not have been able to get the help they were looking for at the time they needed it,” she said.
“One of the important things for those who are living with a cancer diagnosis is to be able to support them at critical times, and sometimes a closed door can mean someone will have a pretty bad day.
“We hope that this trial goes on to be a really important expansion of the level of support and service we can provide to our clients and the community.”