Maggie's Merseyside Topping Out Ceremony - The Steve Morgan Foundation

MAGGIE'S, the charity which provides free practical, emotional and social support for people living with cancer, are delighted to announce that construction of a brand new Maggie's centre, located on the grounds of The Clatterbridge Health Park, Wirral is on track to open early 2021. Celebrations are taking place as they have reached the highest point of the build and have hosted a socially distanced Topping Out Ceremony to mark the exciting milestone.

Steve Morgan CBE, Chairman of the Steve Morgan Foundation has pledged his support to build a new inspirational Maggie's centre to replace the current interim centre:- "I am delighted that the Steve Morgan Foundation is progressing well on one of our biggest capital projects to date in partnership with Maggie's, despite facing these unprecedented times. So many people have been affected by cancer, or know someone who has been affected by cancer, and the work undertaken by the staff at Maggie's Centres across the country offers invaluable practical and emotional support when people who are being treated; and their families and friends; need it most."

The project is part of a ₤5million donation to build 2 new Maggie's centres:- "All of our trustees are delighted that work is underway with new Maggie's centre at Clatterbridge. The celebrations continue as we have now secured a site for a second substantial investment at The New Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool."

Since opening at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre's Wirral site in June 2014, Maggie's Merseyside has provided emotional and psychological support to over 70,000 visits, both to those who are living with cancer and their families and friends.

In June 2018 Steve Morgan revealed plans and images for the new facility and the team at Maggie's launched their 'Million for Maggies' campaign with the aim of raising crucial funds to secure the running costs of the new centre. The team are now close to reaching the 'Million for Maggie's' milestone.

The new centre is welcomed by many of the centre visitors, at Maggie's, Jane Dabner of Bebington, Wirral said:- "The best way to describe being told you've got cancer is that somebody kidnaps you, takes you away and drops you in another country. You've got no map, you don't understand the language and somehow you've got to try to find your way home. Maggie's helps you do that. Maggie's Merseyside had just opened as I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. I found myself unceremoniously catapulted into a world that was terrifying and alien to me. Thank goodness Maggie's were there to help me navigate my way through. As soon as I could, I started fundraising for Maggie's as I wanted others to be able to experience the tremendous support that they provide. When my cancer returned last year and developed into Metastatic breast cancer, Maggie's were there for me, once again, whilst I underwent palliative chemotherapy to slow down the cancer. Even during lockdown, they continued to be there, and I am so pleased I've recently been able to visit the centre and speak to people face to face again, albeit at a distance. I've been following the progress of the new building and have been extremely excited to see this beautiful centre develop. I know it will make such a difference to people like me, providing a safe haven for the days when we need it most. Since last year my health has taken a further hit and I'm really hoping someone can slow the clock down, it's going too fast. That said, I am still determined to continue to raise funds for the services in the new centre and be there for the opening."

Kathy Wright Centre Head at Maggie's Merseyside said:- "We are delighted to have reached this milestone as it brings us a step closer to the official opening. A new Maggie's Centre will allow our team of qualified professionals to provide high quality support to people living with cancer at their most vulnerable time, in a warm and welcoming environment. Carroll Builders have worked so hard so hard with worked so hard with The Steve Morgan Foundation to ensure the build has progressed forward despite the challenges with the Covid-19 Pandemic. We are extremely grateful to the Steve Morgan Foundation and we cannot thank them enough for making that a possibility. Without their help we simply could not manage to sustain the level of support with the growing centre visitor numbers as the current interim centre does not have the capacity. As a team we are excited for the future of Maggie's Merseyside and we know this will have such a positive impact on our centre visitors."

Liz Bishop, Chief Executive of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:- "Maggie's Merseyside provides a vital service to our patients, enhancing the outstanding care they receive at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. We are pleased see the new centre taking shape so it can continue its work in new and improved surroundings."

Maggie's Merseyside is a warm and welcoming place, with qualified professionals on hand to offer an evidence based core programme of support that has been shown to improve physical and emotional wellbeing. To find out more about Maggie's and how to fundraise for the new Maggie's Centre please get in touch with Sasha Mathias, at:- Sasha.Mathias@MaggiesCentres.Org or call:- 0151 334 4301. For further information about Steve Morgan Foundation please go to:- SteveMorganFoundation.Org.UK. For further information about Maggie's Merseyside please go to:- MaggiesCentres.Org.

SEFTON'S Early Help team are delighted to help an inspirational young person, who struggles with a communication disorder, to make her voice heard and support others through her own website. 16 year old Ellen from Crosby has been diagnosed with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) which is a type of speech, language and communication need that affects the way children understand and use language. It is more common than autism with up to two children in every classroom having the disorder. Living with DLD has meant through her life, Ellen has struggled to express herself and process complex sentences and to feel heard preferring to communicate by writing words down or making videos.

Hannah Howard from Sefton's Early Help team said:- "Like many other young people with a similar condition, Ellen feels that she is not heard because she can't communicate easily, and people's patience, belief in her and understanding is varied and often limited. This has had an effect on her education as well as her social and emotional wellbeing however, Ellen has said that having the support from people who have really listened has made a massive difference. I have been absolutely inspired by Ellen. As a professional I have always strived to listen and put every child at the centre of what I do. Ellen has reminded me of the importance of us all taking the time to increase our understanding and knowledge around individual needs and that taking extra time to ensure a child has a voice is paramount."

Ellen's mum Roisin said:- "Ellen has received support from Sefton's Early Help team who have been there to help stop us getting to crisis point and their support has been immeasurable. The way they put Ellen first shines through, and they always come back to, 'what does Ellen want'. They have been 'Ellen's voice' and she really feels they have enabled her to be heard. We have also received amazing support from the Venus Centre in Sefton which provides counselling, her head teacher at Holy Family Catholic High School, and Speech and language therapists, at Alder Hey. They are helping to empower Ellen so she can achieve her full potential by continuing to promote communication, give practical advice and encouragement, whilst putting Ellen's voice at the centre of everything they do."

With her support network on board, Ellen has used her own experiences to help others by developing a website. 'This is DLD,' not only gives a personal insight into Ellen's experience of living with the disorder, but also gives help and advice to people who have difficulties expressing themselves. The websites which contains videos and pictures also gives advice to practitioners and teachers on how they can help a child with DLD, such as giving enough time to respond and using pictures sometimes instead of words.

Ellen said:- "When you struggle with communication, life can be hard for you and your family as you need words for everything. Often I have felt invisible. However, over the last year I have had Alison from Sefton Speech and Language therapy, Paula from Venus and Hannah from Early Help supporting me and my family. They listened and followed things through. They believed in me and helped me find my voice and speak out about the things that mattered to me. I wanted to help give a voice to all those children and families in the same situation as us. It is important that they too are seen and heard, so with my Uncle's help, I have created a website to try and get the message out to the right people so things can change. I want people to understand what it is like growing up in a place without a voice and how they can help make life easier. None of this costs money, only time. Everyone deserves a fair chance."

Ellen's 'This is DLD' website can be found here.