2026 is a year of celebration as it’s 10 years since the Worcestershire Breast Unit opened its doors and the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity started fundraising to support Worcestershire patients with breast cancer.
Over that period, some 51,000 women and men have come through our county breast service doors with different breast health referrals, and from there, 6,768 of those have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven (WBUH) supports all patients diagnosed with breast cancer in Worcestershire (in 2025 approximately 800 women and 4 men were diagnosed) between the ages of 20 and 96. We are co-located and work hand in hand with the NHS clinical breast team to offer the best possible support to anyone in the county who has a breast cancer diagnosis.
The Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity exists to support those people from the point of diagnosis, through treatment and recovery, offering emotional and practical support over and above what the NHS can provide. What’s more, over the past 10 years, the charity has raised over £1.6 million to support patients in Worcestershire with breast cancer.
Amongst many other support initiatives that the charity has instigated and funded over the past ten years, here are just a few (more recent) highlights.
- WBUH funds a unique hydrotherapy rehabilitation course on site at Worcestershire Royal Hospital to assist breast cancer patients post treatment. Patients are benefitting from reduced pain and improved movement following the hydrotherapy. The course is the first of its kind in the Midlands and helps on average 72 people per year.
- Our charity funded the vital post of a Metastatic breast care nurse, named the ‘Kate Nurse’ after patient and fundraiser Kate Butler who sadly passed away in 2018. The Kate Nurse works at the Worcestershire Breast Unit and the role has subsequently been funded/adopted by the NHS.
- In conjunction with this and because of huge need, the charity funds a secondary breast cancer support group, run by the Unit’s 2 NHS Metastatic nurses. This specialist support group runs quarterly at varying venues.
- Since their launch in 2022 and 2023 respectively, WBUH has given out over 3,200 Patient Care Packs and 400 Chemotherapy Care Packs to support those patients undergoing chemotherapy. Following Covid, WBUH has reintroduced complementary therapies in a brand new way for our charity, providing personalised, emotional and practical support for patients. Just a few highlights amid so very many!
Over the past ten years, the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven has hosted the local Look Good Feel Better sessions. This is a national initiative which helps women with skincare and make-up during and post treatment. The Worcestershire Breast Unit is the only venue for this in Worcestershire and the sessions are accessible by patients with all cancers not solely breast.
Since 2016 and particularly following Covid, we have created a growing range of support activities for patients to support and strength their bodies and therefore their minds.
- Pink Ribbon Pilates sessions help with upper body mobility & strength. These are usually run virtually.
- Our patients are offered specialist PT sessions with a personal trainer with expert qualifications in this field. Sessions run throughout the year (contact us for dates) and patients who have attended are very enthusiastic about the results and impact on their mental and physical wellbeing.
- Our weekly Nordic Walking sessions take place at Worcester Woods. The movement of the poles is good for upper body mobility and the lymph system.
- Our Last Friday Support Group meeting takes place on the last Friday of every month at Bevere Gallery WR3 7RQ It is a safe, welcoming space where everyone ‘just gets it’. It runs between 11 and 2.30 Feel free to call in for relaxed friendly chat (and cake!). The charity also runs/funds other support groups around the county.
- We have information/education events related to breast cancer on different related themes and utilising independent experts as appropriate.
In order to provide all of this, the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity needs to raise in excess of £300,000 a year.Please do support us with fundraising, join us on our events or reach out with ways in which you can support us in this way by contacting our Charity Director Lexi on alexandra.craigie@nhs.net or 01905 733 786.