PEOPLE living with cancer and one of its common side effects, hair loss, can still access vital wigs and scarves as a former charity’s legacy lives on.
The closure of Cancer Warriors, on Melbourne Street, Stalybridge, left users wondering whether such a service would remain.
But two of the volunteers, Sarah Houghton and Linda Yarwood, have made sure it was not lost to the community by setting up the Wig and Scarf Room.
Less the half a mile from where Cancer warriors was located, they have set up a facility at Academy HQ, on Grosvenor Street.
Already, it is proving popular with people asking if they can get access to wigs, hair pieces and scarves as chemotherapy sees their natural locks fall out.
Referrals are being made from MacMillan Cancer Care and the pair believe it is something that had to keep going.
Sarah said: “It’s not a business. It’s a support service and this space doesn’t feel clinical.
“I’m also volunteering at Tameside Hospital’s MacMillan centre and we’ve already received some wigs from them.”
The move was largely made possible by Sarah approaching Jane Wood of Academy HQ and she was more than happy to let them move in.
She said: “Sarah contacted me and I’d heard about what happened to Cancer Warriors. I was told the back story and asked, ‘Do you have any space?’
“I said, ‘We have and we’re definitely going to have to do something.’ It resonated with me.
“I’ve helped facilitate their idea but we’re hoping to get more funding soon. We want to create the space so it can be a boudoir, so people get real special treatment when they come on.
“We hope one day to develop it to a place that families can come to.”
Already service users are benefitting from Sarah and Linda’s expertise.
When The Correspondent was showed around, Diane Coleman, from nearby Padfield, was given a fitting as she goes through chemotherapy.
She said: “I tried the cold cap but my hair started falling out.
“Having something like this is brilliant. One of my friends told me about it. I saw it and thought, ‘Oh my goodness.’”
Cancer Warriors closed because of the cost of living crisis and ‘ridiculous’ utility bills at the end of March.
But rather than wallow, Linda and Sarah have acted to keep what was proving a much-needed service going.
The Correspondent featured how it was hit with an £8,500 electricity bill after it moved into the premises, which it hoped would provide a base for people living with cancer to thrive.
But after that left the coffers pretty much bare and with heating and lighting costs continuing to rise, the decision was taken to shut.
Currently, the Wig and Scarf Room at Academy HQ, on Grosvenor Street, is open on a Friday from 10am until 1pm but there will be further links with MacMillan in Tameside.
I have three wigs that were my wife’s who passed away last year