Colleagues from Maggie’s and staff from Forth Valley Royal Hospital got together to launch Maggie’s Kitchen Table Day – Gather and Give, a new national fundraising campaign for the charity which offers free practical, emotional and social support for people with cancer.

Work on Maggie’s Forth Valley is underway in the grounds of the hospital, with the new Centre due to open this summer.

Maggie’s Kitchen Table Day takes place on Friday 26^th February 2016 and encourages friends, families and colleagues across Scotland to “gather and give” to make a difference for people affected by cancer.

The campaign was launched in the restaurant at Forth Valley Royal Hospital with a celebratory Burn’s Supper, complete with piper and haggis as well as special Maggie’s Kitchen Table shortbread baked specially for the event.

The idea for the new campaign came about as the kitchen table is at the heart of every Maggie’s Centre as a place where people come together to talk and share their experiences. Maggie’s Kitchen Table Day aims to celebrate that togetherness by inviting people to come up with their own event which can be as creative and original as they like. It could be a tea party or a simple coffee with a friend, or it could be a table-top craft sale, a book club bake off or a night of cocktails and card games. It could take place at home, at work, in school or even on a mountaintop!

Jane Grant, Chief Executive of NHS Forth Valley, said: “We are very much looking forward to the opening of the new Maggie’s Forth Valley Centre this year as it will make a big difference to local patients being treated for cancer and their families. Our staff are working closely with Maggie’s and we were delighted that they chose to launch this major new initiative at one of our hospitals.”

Marlene Boyd, Contract Director of Serco who provide a range of non-clinical support services at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, said: “I am delighted we have been able to help launch this fantastic new campaign which will raise vital funds for the incredibly important work that Maggie’s does in supporting people with cancer as well as their family and friends. Maggie’s Kitchen Table Day is an opportunity to get together with the people you care about to celebrate, talk and have fun whilst also making a difference.”

Michelle Campbell, Fundraising Assistant for Maggie’s Forth Valley, said: “I can’t wait to see the wonderful events that people from the Forth Valley are and across Scotland come up with to help make Maggie’s Kitchen Table Day a success. Maggie’s relies entirely on voluntary donations to allow us to keep on developing our unique programme of support for people affected by cancer and to be able to offer that support to everyone who needs it.”

Funds raised by Maggie’s Kitchen Table Day can make a real difference to people who have been affected by cancer: £30 pays for an exercise class for up to 10 people, £50 pays for a Centre visitor to spend an hour with a Benefits Advisor getting financial advice and £65 pays for one hour of psychological support for a family.

To sign up online go to at www.maggiescentres.org/kitchentableday where you will also find further information and event inspiration. Once you have registered you can start planning how you will make your event special. If you can’t hold your event on 26 February, you can do it any day from January through to March 2016. And, Maggie’s would love to hear and see what you have planned, so please share your photographs on Facebook and Twitter using #maggieskitchentable.

The new Maggie’s Forth Valley Centre is currently being built in the grounds of Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert and is due to open in summer 2016. It will be the eighth Maggie’s Centre to open in Scotland, meaning there will be a Centre at every major NHS cancer treatment hospital north of the border. It will also be the 20^th Maggie’s Centre to be built by the charity which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year.

Maggie’s relies on voluntary donations to support and grow its network of Centres and to develop its unique, high quality programme of support. The charity’s aim is to make the biggest difference possible to people living with cancer and their family and friends.

 To find out more about Maggie’s and to see how the Centre supports people with cancer visit www.maggiescentres.org

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For more information please contact: Helen Harris at helen.harris@maggiescentres.org or on 07769 145260

About Maggie’s

• Maggie’s offers free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends. Built in the grounds of specialist NHS cancer hospitals, Maggie’s Centres are warm and welcoming places, with qualified professionals on hand to offer a programme of support that has been shown to improve physical and emotional wellbeing.
• Great architecture is vital to the care Maggie’s offers; and to achieve that Maggie’s works with great architects like Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, whose expertise and experience deliver the calm, uplifting environments that are so important to the people who visit and work in the Centres.
• Maggie’s was founded in Scotland with its first Centre opening in Edinburgh in 1996. Since then, the people of Scotland have raised nearly £50 million to build and run eight Centres covering every major NHS hospital in the country, with the eighth due to open in the summer of 2016. Maggie’s ground-breaking model of cancer care now has a network of 18 Centres across the UK, online and abroad with more planned for the future.
• Maggie’s relies on voluntary donations to support and grow its network of Centres and to develop its unique, high quality programme of support. The charity’s aim is to make the biggest difference possible to people living with cancer and their family and friends.
• 2016 marks Maggie’s 20th anniversary.
• Maggie’s President is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
• For further information about Maggie’s please go to maggiescentres.org