Our Macmillan Community Voices team was delighted to attend last week’s Armed Forces Community Roadshow, organised and hosted by Braintree District Council. Aimed at serving personnel, veterans and their families, the event provided a valuable opportunity to access a wide range of information and support, including housing, benefits, cost of living assistance, mental health services, employment support, and health and wellbeing resources.
Supported by Macmillan Cancer Support, the Macmillan Community Voices team attended as part of our ongoing work to engage with communities that experience health inequalities, which includes the veterans’ community. Through these conversations, we aim to better understand people’s lived experiences of cancer and identify ways to improve cancer care and support across Essex. Alongside meeting Cllr Richard van Dulken, Chairman of Braintree District Council, the roadshow provided a fantastic opportunity to build new connections with both members of the armed forces community and the many organisations in attendance.
The LGBTQ+ community is another group experiencing health inequalities that we have been focusing on, so we were particularly pleased to meet Fighting With Pride. The organisation was initially established to support those affected by the military’s ‘Gay Ban’, which was lifted on 12 January 2000. Prior to its removal, thousands of LGBTQ+ service personnel were dismissed or forced to leave the armed forces because of their sexuality, despite serving their country with pride. Since then, Fighting With Pride has expanded its work to support serving personnel, veterans, their families, and those leaving military service today.
If you have lived experience of cancer, either personally or as a carer, and are a member of the veteran and/or LGBTQ+ communities, we would like to hear about your experiences of cancer services.
To share your experiences, please email voices@community360.org.uk or call 01206 505250 and ask to speak to the Macmillan Community Voices team.
>To find out more about support available from Macmillan Cancer Support click here
