A Haven of Hope

When Sophie Xi steps into the gardens of Maggie's cancer support centre in Manchester, she is immediately transported to an oasis of calm.

Just a stones' throw from the clinical wards at The Christie Hospital, where she is being treated for stage 4 breast cancer, Sophie says the tranquil setting and beautiful blooms offer instant cheer and more importantly, hope.

A place where for a short period of time she can forget about the torrent of tests and scans to monitor her condition. Here, she can just be.

Sophie said: "When I come to the gardens, I don't think about what is going on in the hospital across the road.

"The plants and flowers surround you. There's a beautiful greenhouse and there is colour all year round. It makes me feel that I can forget all the things I am going through. They really help me to recover and to enjoy life, when often life is not that enjoyable."

Sophie travels 116 miles from her home in Anglesey in Wales to Manchester for treatment each month, accompanied by husband Henry.

She said: "During chemotherapy, it was long and tough and all I could think about was when is this going to end? But then I come here and I relax. The staff are so wonderful. When I am here, I can believe there is hope."

The gardens are an integral part of every Maggie's and compliment the huge variety of free practical, psychological and emotional cancer support provided by the charity.

Built in the grounds of NHS cancer hospitals, the centres are warm and welcoming spaces run by expert staff who help people live well with cancer. The support is there for loved ones as well as the person with the diagnosis.

Lew Palmer is one of the volunteer gardeners at the Manchester centre. Lew, from Didsbury, lost his wife Sue to ovarian cancer six years ago and turned to Maggie's following her death, joining a local bereavement group.

Now, Lew is one of the green-fingered regulars. It is his way of giving back to the charity that helped him through the darkest of days.

Lew explained: "It’s such a lovely place, like a family. I come here and do whatever needs done a couple of days a week. I look after the wisteria, that’s my baby!

"I love the community at Maggie’s and you see that more in the gardens.

"Sometimes visitors might want to talk about what they are going through and we just listen. We're not experts. The experts are inside but if they just want to open up a little bit, we let them do that. It's therapy outside as well as inside."

Players of People's Postcode Lottery have raised £29 Million for Maggie's to help support the charity's 24 UK centres and services, including their stunning gardens.

Robin Muir leads the Maggie's team in Manchester and says the gardens are pivotal.

Robin said: "They surround all the wonderful work that we do at Maggie's. They are also an incredible point of difference from hospitals. Hospitals are in a very clinical environment. A Maggie's centre is very different.

"It's almost impossible to quantify how the garden impacts the work within the building and it's something we hear day in and day out from our centre visitors about how special the space is."

Postcode Lottery players have now been supporting Maggie's since 2008.

Robin added: "The support of the players is really important to the work of Maggie's.

"It means we can keep being here for people living with cancer, as well as their family and friends - making sure they are as well as possible when they are going through such a difficult experience. And we are so grateful to all the players for that."

Making A Difference

People's Postcode Lottery players are helping deserving causes like Maggie's make a difference every single day. Read more about the range of Charities our players support.

Related Links

• Maggie's website
• People's Postcode Lottery and Maggie's