Herts cancer charity secures £5.8 million in financial support
Hertfordshire Macmillan Benefits Advice Service has helped over 1,160 people affected by cancer in the last year
The Hertfordshire Macmillan Benefits Advice Service is funded by Macmillan Cancer Support and run by Hertfordshire County Council's Money Advice Unit.
People affected by cancer are able to use the service to get help to cope with the huge financial pressures that can be caused due to their illness.
A team of six advisers are on hand to guide people towards various forms of financial support such as grants and blue badges, as well as helping them understand and claim benefits.
It comes as more and more people with cancer are seeking help to claim social security benefits.
Figures show that between October 2020 and September 2021, the advice service helped 1,160 people claim an average of £4,963.
Jennie Eckett, from Sandridge near St Albans, lost her husband Dave to secondary lung cancer that spread to the brain.
It was Dave's Macmillan nurses that alerted her to the service.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, she said:
"I didn't know of this wonderful service, the McMillan Benefits Advice Service.
"And basically, at the time when I was introduced to it, my husband had been diagnosed with cancer but we didn't know it was terminal at that stage.
"Everything was dealt with extremely professionally and kindly and the service was just invaluable to me."
However, it isn't just financial support that the service provides, Mrs Eckett was provided with a Blue Badge which made a huge difference when travelling to hospitals in Hertfordshire and London.
Mrs Eckett said:
"There were lots of trips up to London and just in terms of having to remember to pay congestion charges, the parking and working out if our complied with all the regulations, it was a nightmare.
"The Blue Badge made such a big difference.
"The service was a lifeline to us."
Bernie O’Gorman, Manager of the Hertfordshire Macmillan Benefits Advice Service said:
"No-one who has a life-threatening illness should have to worry about how to pay their bills or cover the costs of getting to hospital, but every day we hear from people facing these choices.
"Cancer comes with lots of unexpected costs and often a loss in income, particularly for those who have never tried to navigate the benefits system before.
"It can feel like a maze, especially when someone is going through gruelling treatment or struggling to deal with the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis.
"Often people don’t realise they’d be entitled to financial support, and without our help would simply continue to struggle.
"That’s where we come in.
"We can work out which benefits, payments, allowances and grants they might be eligible for, liaise with the Department for Work and Pensions on their behalf, and even contest the claims they may have had rejected if we feel there are grounds to do so."
For more information visit the Hertfordshire Macmillan Benefits Advice Service