Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust's (HDFT) Active Against Cancer Service (AAC) celebrated their 5th birthday last month.
The trust celebrated on Sunday 21st July with a barbecue for friends and family of the service with fundraising opportunities.
The event was hosted at the Harrogate Sports and Fitness Club and attended by over 200 patients, service users and AAC colleagues.
Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity (HHCC) also attended the event helping to raise over £2,000 in funds which will all go towards enhancing AAC’s services.
Steve Henwood, Lead in Physical Training for Oncology, said:
“Active Against Cancer is an award winning, pioneering cancer service that improves the experience of patients on their journey through cancer.
“Its not just an exercise group, but a growing community that is supporting patients to recover from their cancer diagnosis both physically and psychologically, during their treatment and beyond.”
Launched in June 2019, AAC is an award winning service prescribing exercise, health and wellbeing to all cancer patients within HDFT as part of the standard cancer care pathways.
Since the service opened, AAC has treated over 3,500 patients and has around 1,200 patient visits per month.
The service was the first of its kind in the NHS and winner of an NHS Parliamentary Award for excellence in healthcare (2020).
Active Against Cancer Service
AAC supports patients throughout their cancer journey starting with one-to-one assessments at the time of diagnosis, when patients are prescribed a personalised prehabilitation exercise programme.
Run from a picturesque community setting at the Harrogate Sports and Fitness Club, the classes are designed not only to be effective in assisting the treatment of cancer, but also to be engaging, fun and to create a sense of community and wellbeing.
Classes include a variety of activities including circuits, Pilates, yoga, dance, walking and running.
For patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, maintenance programmes are prescribed and when treatment has finished patients enter into personalised rehabilitation programmes.
Specially designed classes also are available for patients with terminal disease, specific cancers and other complex clinical needs.
Not only does the services improve patients’ quality of life but also reduces the risk of complications through treatment, enabling patients to most importantly recover quicker while also resulting in a cost saving for the NHS.
As patients attended AAC’s exercise programs, organic bonds and friendships were created between members as well as the Friends of AAC (FOAAC); a support group for patients who have benefitted from the AAC program.
The group, led by HDFT Volunteers Syvia Fagg and Lindsay Cooper, organise regular events including bi-monthly coffee mornings, Bingo, Quiz nights and Christmas parties to raise funds for AAC at each event.
Other hospitals in the region are now working to introduce similar services for their cancers patients, expanding the reach of similar NHS services for those diagnosed with cancer.
To further improve access to exercise health and wellbeing for patients within the catchment area of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, AAC is proud to announce the launch of Active Against Cancer Ripon, from August 2024.
The service will be hosted from Ripon Tennis Centre, bringing the innovative service more accessible to patients living in Ripon and the surrounding area.
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