The Living Tree is a registered charity based in Bridport, offering friendship, creative activities and holistic therapies, relevant diet and lifestyle information for anyone with any cancer.

The charity offers mutual support, helping people cope with the fear, anxiety, isolation, or stress that cancer can bring by offering a chance to unwind and share laughter and coping strategies. It also shares knowledge and information about services and resources in the locality.

There is currently no cancer care centre in Dorset to help people living with cancer take back control of their health and lifestyle. The nearest centres are Force Cancer Charity in Exeter and the Penny Brohn Centre in Bristol.

There are excellent disease specific support groups, usually supported by clinical nurse specialists, but few are very local and some are quite a distance away in Poole.

The Living Tree was set up in October 2012, with support from Macmillan Cancer Support, becoming a small community group in 2016 and eventually a registered charity in 2020.

The need to recruit more volunteer trustees remains as important as ever, particularly as The Living Tree grows and tries to reach out to more people affected by cancer.

They are still looking for a new chairperson, so if you feel you may enjoy contributing to the future development of this charity, please get in touch.

New trustees will always be helped to settle into their role by the existing volunteers, and any potential chair would overlap with the existing chair whilst they find their feet.

You can find out more about The Living Tree at https://www.thelivingtree.org.uk/ or get in touch by calling 07341 916 976 or email [email protected]