‘You are not alone’ is our motto.

An important role for volunteers to play in supporting Cancer Support 06 is to become an Active Listener. Eli Cookson leads the training of Active Listeners and shared this definition of what it is:

When actively listening, you are fully concentrating on what is being said rather than thinking about your response. It means listening with a genuine desire to understand the speaker’s feelings and perspective without placing judgment.

In addition, active listening involves engaging all your senses. Interest can be shown through both verbal and nonverbal cues, such as nodding your head or saying “yes” to encourage the speaker to continue. These cues help the speaker feel more at ease, making communication smoother and more open.

This type of intentional listening cannot be sustained for long periods, as it requires significant effort and focus. However, it is highly rewarding for both the listener and the person being heard.

Many of our volunteers are survivors of Cancer, some are health professionals and some are relatives of sufferers, survivors or loved ones that have passed.

Why volunteer?

It is an excellent way to integrate into the community if you are new.

It is an excellent way to make new friends who are like minded, i.e. caring.

It is an excellent way to improve your communication skills.

There are many transferrable skills that can be used to improve relationships between your family and friends by being better able to listen to them they will appreciate you more/ communicate with you clearer/ better

If you have had contact with someone with Cancer or have had cancer yourself, it’s an opportunity to give back to the cancer support community.

Useful way of understanding the impact cancer has on the sufferer but also their friends and family.

If you like to help people this is a great way to do it!

For an account of active listening, this recent article offers a useful overview.

Here, Clare Harding, one of our recently trained active listeners in the Cancersupport 06 group, shares her experience of the training.

Why I wanted to become an active listener.

In the UK, I spent 15 years nursing children with cancer—six years on a bone marrow transplant unit and seven as a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner. During this time, I often heard parents say that difficult times reveal who their true friends are. While many friends offered to help, they were often unavailable when support was actually needed.

Parents needed someone to pick up groceries, do some ironing or cleaning, or simply give them time to be with their sick child or enjoy moments with their other children. More often than not, they just needed someone to talk to—someone who would truly listen.

When I saw that CSG 06 was looking for active listeners, I immediately thought, “I have a skill that is being wasted—I should volunteer.”

Who can volunteer to be an active listener?

Anyone- well almost.

Volunteers are often people who have known someone that has had cancer in the past or have recovered from cancer themselves. Many volunteers offer help because they can offer a service such as nutritional advice, mindfulness sessions, massage, art therapy. Some because they have free time, and they want to help others. Some because they would like to give back to the charity that helped them when they were going through treatment.

Occasionally people want to do the training, then realise the timing is not quite right/ they are not in the right place, yet. Active listening can bring back emotions from past experiences. Advice and support are always available should this happen.

What does the training involve?

The training is a two full consecutive days over a weekend, some practice sessions in your own setting and then a further full day (at a weekend). Training is under the guidance of Eli Cookson a local psychotherapist. Eli works full time, so formal training sessions are at the weekend.

During the weekend the basic principles of active listening are explained, discussed, and practiced. There is lots of group work and the days are informative and fun. There are no tests, and a delicious lunch and snacks are provided by the association.

What is the association looking for?

During my training I discovered that active listeners can volunteer as little or as much as they would like and in whatever capacity they feel comfortable. For example, because of my previous experience, I would feel comfortable sitting with someone who was dying if they were unable to have family with them and did not want to be alone but many people in the group would not be comfortable with this. Most volunteers would be willing to collect shopping for clients, drive them to appointments or have a phone or face to face conversation. Whatever you are able to offer, it is important to undertake the active listening training.

Clare Harding, January 2022

Finally, a shout out to all the volunteers who work with Cancer Support 06 and in particular the Active Listeners. Here’s a photo of the recently trained ones.

If you would like to volunteer to be a confidant to someone experiencing cancer (patient or family member of a patient) our next ‘Active Listener’ training takes place 2nd and 3rd December 2023. Please contact info@cancersupport06 if you are interested in attending.

If you would like to volunteer in any capacity for our association please contact info@cancersupport06.com