Have your say - conferences 2008

Over 250 delegates and 70 Macmillan staff attended our regional Speak Out conferences in London, Sheffield and West Bromwich, and a further 80 joined us at the Have Your Say event in Wales.

Help shape what we do in England

We worked hard to capture the views of delegates on Macmillan's work and the support which should be given to people affected by cancer, so we can put you and your thoughts at the heart of our future plans. Our next steps will be to develop roles and involvement opportunities for people affected by cancer so they can play a bigger role in shaping what Macmillan does.

Jagtar Dhanda, Macmillan's Inclusion Programmes Lead, explained why these conferences are so important:

'User involvement conferences provide Macmillan with a real opportunity to talk, listen and work more closely with service users. Cancer Voices, members of Self Help and Support Groups and user involvement networks are experts by experience and we need to ensure that we acknowledge this expertise to improve cancer services. We hope that these conferences will be one way of doing this.'

Have your say in Wales

In Wales, the conference focused on the rehabilitation standard, a section of the cancer strategy that isn't currently formalised, because that was where the biggest difference can be made, according to Anne Mart, who organised the event.

Workshops, that focused on practical and emotional support, information and working through cancer, gave an opportunity for people affected by cancer to voice their opinions, with results being fed back to the Welsh Assembly Government. The main conclusion was that people with cancer need one point of contact throughout their cancer journey – a guide, as it were.

Anne Mart explains just how vital these conference are to help people affected by cancer get their voices heard:

'It's very motivating for the people who attended to know that there's a clear pathway from them to the powers that be. The conference wasn't just a chance for people to air their views and tell their stories, it had a real political purpose.'