Macmillan brings isolation box to Manchester Piccadilly Station
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Macmillan Cancer Support brought an Isolation Box to Manchester Piccadilly Station on Tuesday 25th August to highlight the plight of cancer patients who have experienced loneliness in Greater Manchester.
Two personal stories of cancer patients from each location, both talking poignantly about the effect loneliness had on them during their cancer journey, were shared each day of the Box’s tour
The Isolation Box, which was launched earlier this year at London’s Paddington Station, was installed as part of the charity’s #NotAlone campaign and was created by tea and cake PRMembers of the public were taken from the hustle and bustle of one of Manchester’s busiest stations into an isolated box with just their own reflection and the voices of real people talking about how lonely they felt after being diagnosed with cancer, to demonstrate the feelings of loneliness and isolation many cancer patients suffer.
Julie Atkin-Ward, senior Macmillan development manager for Greater Manchester said: “Loneliness is blighting the lives of thousands of cancer patients in Greater Manchester. It’s hard enough for people being hit with the devastating news that they have cancer, without having to suffer the additional effects that being lonely brings. It’s heartbreaking to think of people struggling to eat or leave the house because they have been abandoned and left to deal with cancer alone.This is a growing problem which is only set to get worse as the number of people diagnosed with cancer doubles from two to four million in the next 20 years. Macmillan provides a range of services that are a lifeline to people affected by cancer. But we simply can’t help everyone who needs us now, let alone those who will need us in the future so we need more public donations and support.”
Figures released by the charity last year reveal an estimated 550,000 people in the UK – 22% of those living with cancer – suffer with loneliness as a result of their cancer.
The Isolation Box UK tour reached the following destinations; Glasgow Central Station, Manchester Piccadilly station, Birmingham Bullring Centre, Cardiff St Davids Centre, Brighton Churchill Square.
