Working with Macmillan, we offer benefit advice, and access to grants for people affected by cancer across Coventry and Warwickshire.  The goal is to deliver the maximum financial impact to the maximum number of people affected by cancer.    Our aim is to offer support at the right time, ensuring we are available at the following stages:

• Diagnosis/Staging: this includes clients who have had diagnostic tests and a diagnosis of cancer (primary or metastatic disease) confirmed and also includes 'surveillance' for clients with slow growing cancer which may not need treatment at diagnosis e.g. some prostate cancers and lymphomas.
• Treatment: this includes people during active treatment and those that have ended active treatment (up to 6 months post treatment).
• Palliative Care: treatment and support aimed at relieving symptoms or pain rather than curing the condition.
• End of Life: this includes people with advanced disease where it is not unreasonable to expect death within 6 months and also covers post bereavement support.

The project has been delivered within Coventry and Warwickshire since 2010, both face to face in hospital, digitally and through phone support.  Since March 2020, when face to face work was suspended advisers have worked from home offering phone and digital support only.

As well as supporting individuals with their enquiries the project also promotes the services available to people affected by cancer.  This includes the Macmillan Support Line 0808 808 00 00 (open 7 days a week from 8 till 8)  and the Macmillan website, macmillan.org.uk, offering general information about cancer and access to emotional support.

Our client, who was single, living alone and with no dependants was referred to us for benefits advice after having to finish work due to ill health.

We advised that she would be entitled to contributory ESA and helped her apply for this advising that she would hopefully be placed in the support group at £125 a week and as she lives on her own she would also get a severe disability premium of £61.85. She was awarded enhanced daily living allowance at £82.30 and enhanced mobility allowance at £57.40.

Although she does not drive we advised her that she could get a blue disability badge which would enable anyone driving her around to use this whilst supporting her.  We successfully assisted her in applying for a blue badge.

We also managed to reduce client’s water bill by 90% by applying to BDS scheme and applied for additional support through a number of charities which resulted in a total financial gain for the client for one year of £18k.