Maggie's Matters – Autumn 2015

Maggie’sMattersAutumn Edition 2015

Dan PearsonThe garden designer on his new garden for Maggie’s

Talking about prostate cancerBy Sarah Hughes

A delicious orange spice cakeFrom Mary Berry

Helping more men to find their way through cancer

Men at Maggie’s

Page 2 Maggie’s Matters Autumn Edition 2015

While we hope that every issue of Maggie’s Matters has something for everyone, in this one we’re focusing on men, and looking at how attitudes to masculinity can sometimes be a barrier to men getting the support they need to cope with a diagnosis of cancer.

On page 4, Andy Anderson, Centre Head at Maggie’s Edinburgh, examines the reasons why some men are reluctant to seek help,

A round-up of cancer news.

Laura Lee, Maggie’s Chief Executive

What’s in the news?

Prof R Leonard’s viewWelcome

Prostate cancer update Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. Currently, it is being diagnosed in more than 40,000 men every year, and survival is variable depending on how far the disease has spread at diagnosis and how aggressively it behaves. Incidence of prostate cancer is rising, but this is at least in part because of the increasing proportion of men living longer, as the disease rarely occurs in men under 50, the peak risk being mid-60s to mid-70s with a continuing risk into old age. Because of the possible long survival, the latest survey in 2008 showed there were some 180,000 men living with prostate cancer in the UK.

Conventionally, treatment is based on the degree of spread of the cancer, with surgery and/or radiotherapy providing potentially curative treatment for early stage disease, while anti-androgen therapy (a type of anti-hormone therapy) is the mainstay treatment for more advanced disease. Chemotherapy can be effective for cases where anti-hormone therapy is no longer controlling the disease.

As has been widely reported in the press recently, there is a striking variation

Professor R Leonard, Oncologist and Chair of Maggie’s Professional Advisory Board

in the incidence of prostate cancer in British men, which is strongly linked to ethnic groups: in white males, the lifetime incidence is one in eight, while in Afro-Caribbean men the incidence is twice as high, one in four lifetime incidence. Statistically, Asian men have least risk of developing prostate cancer, a one in 13 lifetime incidence.

There is no obvious difference in the risk of dying from prostate cancer in these three ethnic groups, however, so mortality reflects the rate of occurrence.

In the US, researchers have shown that one molecule appears to be central to many of the processes required for a cancer to spread. That molecule is what’s known as a DNA repair kinase, called DNA-PKcs. This cellular enzyme re-joins broken or mutated DNA strands in a cancer cell, acting as a glue to the many broken pieces of DNA and keeping alive a cell that should normally self-destruct. Other research has shown that this repair enzyme is linked to treatment resistance in prostate cancer, repairing the usually lethal damage to tumours caused by radiation therapy and other treatments.

It has long been known that prostate cancers behave with variable degrees of aggression in different individuals. Recent research from Cardiff and Cambridge universities has suggested that genetic differences occur between different types of prostate cancer, so that about five distinct subtypes may occur. Professor Malcolm Mason of Cardiff University has said that some of the types behave like a pussycat, growing slowly and causing few problems, while others are like a tiger, growing and spreading aggressively. These molecular profile studies may explain the mechanisms behind these variations and, importantly, may point to targets in the cancers for new anti-cancer therapies.

and what Maggie’s is doing to make sure more men get the support they need.

Men’s groups of all kinds take place in our Centres as part of our programme of free practical, emotional and social support, and on page 6 Sarah Hughes, Centre Head at Maggie’s Swansea, writes about our Prostate Cancer Support Groups that aim to get men talking about prostate cancer.

On page 13, we bring you the story of Osi Rhys Osmond, the brilliant Welsh artist who, when dying of cancer, chose to paint his last work for Maggie’s. There’s also a beautiful poem from Clive James’s recent collection, Sentenced to Life, and a lovely crowd-pleasing orange spice cake from judge on The Great British Bake Off Mary Berry.

Finally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in making all seven of our Culture Crawl events – which took place throughout September in London, Oxford, Nottingham, Newcastle, Swansea, Edinburgh and Cambridge – such a great success!

A report published in July by the Independent Cancer Taskforce has set out guidelines for a new “cancer strategy” to be adopted by NHS England, which its authors estimate could save an extra 30,000 lives a year.

According to Professor Sean Duffy, the NHS National Cancer Director, the report, entitled Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England, is aimed at bringing the NHS in England into line with the best cancer treatment in the world.

It sets out six strategic priorities to make substantial improvements in better prevention, swifter diagnosis and improved treatment and care for all cancer patients.

Professor Duffy said: “Despite improvements in survival we’ve made over the last 40 years, we often still lag behind the best in the world. The Taskforce offers an opportunity to take a step back and consider what really needs to

happen for us to begin achieving truly world-class cancer outcomes.”

Over six months, the Taskforce consulted doctors, policy makers, academics and patients in more than 100 engagement events, and listened to the concerns of people with cancer and their families alongside the latest evidence and clinical advice.

The report also calls for more to be done to tackle preventable “lifestyle” causes of cancer, such as smoking, with recommendations for a new tobacco control strategy as well as action on alcohol and obesity.

Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, who was also involved in writing the report, said: “If the initiatives in the report are implemented and the ambitions realised, we estimate it would mean 30,000 additional patients surviving cancer every year by 2020.”

Cancer guidelines for NHS England could save 30,000 lives a year

Maggie’s Matters Autumn Edition 2015 Page 3

Dan Pearson has designed some of the world’s most enchanting gardens, including the Best in Show winner at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. He talks about his life-long love of gardening, and the garden he’s designing for the new Maggie’s Centre being built at The Christie Hospital in Manchester.

A few words

Rousham, UK Designed by Georgian architect, landscape and furniture designer William Kent, the gardens that surround Rousham House in Oxfordshire extend past neoclassical temples, follies and statues of gladiators through woods where they meet the River Cherwell. A separate garden, closer to the house, evokes the spirit of the Tudor and Stuart eras with box-edged beds and borders of old roses and herbaceous plants enclosed by walls of red brick.

Babylonstoren, South Africa Spanning eight acres, the Babylonstoren garden grows more than 300 varieties of plants, all of them edible and grown as organically as possible. Fruit and veg are harvested all year round for use in the restaurant. The garden is divided into 15 clusters, spanning vegetable areas, berries, bees, indigenous plants, ducks and chickens and includes a prickly pear maze. Gravity feeds water into waterways from a stream into the garden as it has done for 300 years.

Ruth Bancroft Garden, CaliforniaThis 2.5-acre dry garden in Walnut Creek, California,was planted by Ruth Bancroft in 1972 and contains more than 2,000 cactus, succulents, trees, and shrubs native to Africa, Australia, California, Chile and Mexico. In 1989 it became the first garden in the US to be preserved by The Garden Conservancy, and has been open to the public since 1992. It is an outstanding landscape of xerophytes (dry-growing plants), and is free to visit.

Saihoji, JapanThis Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple near Kyoto, Japan, is famous for its moss garden. Located in a grove, the garden is arranged as a circular promenade centred around a pond shaped like the Chinese character for “heart” or “mind” and containing three small islands. The area around the pond is said to be covered with more than 120 varieties of moss, believed to have started growing after the flooding of the temple grounds in the Edo Period (1603–1868).

When you are calmed by greenery you become aware of your senses, of real time and the changing seasons.

“When you are calmed by greenery you become aware of your senses, of real time and the changing seasons.”

Where in the world would you like to be right now?

On my land in Somerset, down by the stream in the still, or up on the hill in the light and breeze with the long view. This place grounds me and never fails to delight.

What are you most proud of?

My studio and the team that works here. We have created some wonderful things that have a life well beyond the room in which they were conceived.

When is your favourite time of year and why?

September. The softness of the light, the full, lazy feel in the landscape. The slight feeling of melancholy.

What does Maggie’s mean to you?

Places that are about the act of living.

What inspired you to become a gardener/landscape designer?

I was a keen gardener from the age of five. At some point I realised that I wanted not just to garden but to create places where the material I was working with would create its own sense of place.

Can gardens have a positive effect on wellbeing?

Gardens work in a subliminal way to affect your mood. You don’t have to be interested in the act of gardening or even in the place itself, but gardens have a calming influence.

My favourite gardens

“When gardening, you are often freed of immediate concerns”

Can you tell us about the garden you’re designing for the new Maggie’s Centre at The Christie in Manchester?

The garden is really a series of gardens that wrap the building and change gently in mood as they are revealed from the windows. Some of the spaces are designed as picture gardens, to be viewed from within,

A model of the new Maggie’s Centre being built at The Christie Hospital in ManchesterPhotograph ©Sir Paul Smith

but we have deliberately designed spaces that encourage the act of gardening for the people who are frequenting the centre. When gardening, you are often freed of immediate concerns, which can be given a new perspective through nurturing or tending. It is a simple act and anyone can do it.

What in life would you still like to achieve?

I would like to take up daily drawing again and to finish learning to play the instruments I started to learn but then got side-tracked by gardening!


Maggie’s Edinburgh

John Hartson at Maggie’s Swansea

Maggie’s Newcastle


Leaving aside the old cliché about men making the worst patients, it’s true that men have certain issues when it comes to illness, most worrying of these being a tendency to ignore or downplay possible symptoms, and to put off visiting the doctor.

This attitude is especially challenging when it comes to cancer, for which early diagnosis is known to be an important factor in successful treatment.

In fact, men are more at risk from nearly all the common cancers that affect both genders. According to Cancer Research UK, men are 14% more likely than women to get cancer and 30% more likely to die of it.

The reasons for these statistics are complex, and include lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking and obesity, all of which are traditionally more prevalent in men than women. However, there’s plenty of evidence to show that gender-specific attitudes to illness also play their part.

“The evidence consistently shows that men seek less medical help than women,” says Lesley Howells, a consultant clinical psychologist and Centre Head at Maggie’s Dundee. This is backed up by statistics from the NHS itself, which says that on average men visit their GP half as often as women.

The experience of former Celtic footballer John Hartson is a case in point. In 2009, Hartson was diagnosed with advanced (metastasised) testicular cancer. He ignored early symptoms and only went to the doctor when he began suffering “blinding headaches”. By that time, his testicular cancer – a cancer that when caught early has a very good rate of survival – had spread to his brain and lungs. “I’d had two tiny little lumps on my right testicle for four years before I did anything serious about it,” he says.

Six years on from that bleak-sounding diagnosis, Hartson describes himself as a cancer survivor, but he knows things could have turned out very differently. He has established his own charity, the John Hartson Foundation, to help support and give advice to men who find themselves in similar situations.

When men do get medical help, they are still often less likely than women to seek non-clinical support – for practical matters such as benefits advice and healthy eating, and for the emotional and psychological issues that come with a diagnosis of cancer.

Again, the reasons for this are not clear-cut, but Howells says there are deeply held attitudes to the different roles and characteristics of men and women in our society. She says: “The societal expectation is that men should be providers, to be strong in the face of adversity, without displaying any signs of weakness. This can be like a barrier, preventing men from giving voice to anything that might be perceived as a sign of weakness, such as emotional distress, even in times of need.”

Maggie’s began with one woman, Maggie Keswick Jencks’s, experience of breast cancer, but as a charity it has never been gender, or cancer, specific. While it’s still the case that more women than men use Maggie’s Centres, we’ve seen an encouraging increase in male visitors. Between 2011 and 2014, the total number of people of either gender visiting Maggie’s Centres increased by 70%, while the number of male visitors over the same period increased by 91%.

“I think men in particular can struggle with sharing their worries or feelings and Maggie’s gives them a place to go where they can talk if they want to, or just have a cup of tea and take the pressure off.”

Alongside free access to a psychologist and benefits adviser, each of the 18 Maggie’s Centres (including the Online Centre) offers male-specific support, ranging from the hugely well-attended prostate cancer support groups (read more on page 6) and other male-cancer-specific groups, to more general group sessions for men. Maggie’s has also partnered with organisations such as Prostate Cancer UK and Rangers Football Club, whose charity, The Rangers Charity Foundation, helps run weekly exercise sessions at Maggie’s Glasgow.

Once John Hartson began medical treatment for his cancer, he also found help from Maggie’s, which he has since supported. He says: “I know first-hand what an amazing job the staff at Maggie’s do in helping people to cope with the psychological and emotional impact of cancer. I think that men in particular can struggle with sharing their worries and feelings, and Maggie’s gives them a place to go where they can talk if they want to, or just have a cup of tea and take the pressure off.”

It’s important to stress that many men do come to Maggie’s, and are very open to seeking help of all kinds. Although every man who comes has a different story, something we see again and again is men coming in initially for practical advice on benefits who end up seeing our psychologists or nutrition advisers, or getting involved in activities such as tai chi, mindfulness sessions or expressive art groups.

Howells agrees: “Statistically, men are more likely to seek help for problems and concerns that they perceive to be practical and to have a rational basis than they are to seek emotional or social support without an obvious practical outcome. They will, however, seek practical, emotional and social support if they see that it will enable them to protect and provide for the people they love.”

Carl, who attends the weekly Prostate Cancer Support Group at Maggie’s Swansea, decided to visit the Centre “to meet others with the same diagnosis and to gain more information about [his] condition”. Although quite apprehensive at first, he’s now a thorough advocate of the kind of support Maggie’s offers. “I have experienced great camaraderie among the rest of the Prostate Group,” he says. “We are all at various stages of treatment, but with the support and knowledge of the staff we are able to alleviate some of our anxieties.”

Preconceptions within the medical profession can also be a barrier to men finding appropriate support. We know that men are more likely to come to Maggie’s if their clinicians suggest it. While more and more health professionals are directing people towards non-clinical support for cancer, Howells says there is still a long way to go, and evidence suggests that this alienation affects both patients and health professionals.

“Something we see again and again is men coming in initially for practical advice on benefits who end up seeing our psychologists or nutrition advisers, or getting involved in activities such as tai chi, mindfulness sessions or expressive art groups.”

Encouraging more men to get the help they need has also played a role in the architecture of Maggie’s Centres, each of which is designed by a highly respected architect to be an uplifting, welcoming place. Maggie’s Newcastle (pictured), for example, which opened in 2013, has what many people experience as a more masculine look and feel; this was intentional on the part of its architect, Ted Cullinan, who has spoken about his desire to create a building that would appeal to men.

From my own perspective as Centre Head at Maggie’s Edinburgh, it’s clear that there’s sometimes a stigma, affecting both genders, around seeking emotional support for cancer. I’m passionate about helping as many people as possible to find their way through cancer, and part of doing that involves challenging preconceptions – among some patients but also healthcare professionals – that people (and men especially) don’t want or need the kind of help Maggie’s offers. The fact is, everyone is different. What’s vital, though, is that as many people as possible understand that it’s OK to ask for help, and that Maggie’s is here for you, whatever your age or gender, whenever you need us.

Andy Anderson, Centre Head at Maggie’s Edinburgh, is committed to helping people find their way through cancer. He examines why some men can be reluctant to seek help, and what Maggie’s is doing to help more men get the support they need.

Men and cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. Some 41,700 men are diagnosed with it each year, and over the past decade incidence has risen by 22%; age, family history and ethnic origin are all identified as risk factors in developing the disease. As treatment improves, more and more men are living with prostate cancer; but treatment can leave some with physical and emotional issues, including sexual dysfunction, fatigue and changes in mood.

At our Centres, we have support groups specifically for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. While I and other Centre staff can offer one-to-one support and advice for anyone affected by cancer, the Prostate Cancer Group is a forum for men to get together and share how prostate cancer has, or is, affecting them with others who are going through similar things.

Treatments for prostate cancer range from active surveillance/monitoring, radiotherapy, hormones and, for some, even robotic surgery; each prostate cancer is individual to that person, and that’s why treatment varies so much from man to man.

The physical effects of prostate cancer treatments also vary depending on the treatment. For some, treatment can lead to sexual dysfunction, with low libido or erectile dysfunction, or even both. Surgical treatment can lead to urinary incontinence. Many men who receive hormone therapy (Androgen Deprivation Therapy) experience the physical impact of this treatment, which can involve symptoms of fatigue, lack of libido, hot flushes and weight gain. This can also cause strong emotions described by some men as a rollercoaster ride – “I am now crying at TV adverts, what’s happening to me?” is the kind of statement I sometimes hear. A diagnosis of prostate cancer and the impact of treatment can lead to considerable distress that not only affects the individual going through the experience, but also those close to him.

As prostate cancer generally affects men over 65, a diagnosis can often come along with other big life changes, such as retirement, or when another family member is ill, often upsetting plans to enjoy the pleasures in life. Unsurprisingly, The Lancet recently reported that as many as three-quarters of cancer patients could be clinically depressed.


Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer for men in the UK and, despite improving rates of survival, some will be left with serious physical and mental complications. Sarah Hughes, Centre Head at Maggie’s Swansea, talks about the weekly Prostate Cancer Support Group where men come to share experiences and advice.

Talking about prostate cancer

In medical consultations, where the focus is often on results, physical symptoms and treatment, the psychological effects of a cancer diagnosis and its treatments can be overlooked.

“One visitor said to me: ‘Although the hospital cured my cancer, Maggie’s put me back together.’”

If depression and anxiety is unrecognised and untreated, we know it can lead to poorer treatment outcomes.

One visitor to Maggie’s recently said to me: “Although the hospital cured me of my cancer, Maggie’s put me back together and made me better.” What he meant by this was that we were able to deal with the emotional impact of surviving the diagnosis and its treatment.

Men sometimes find it difficult to talk about their concerns and to seek help, but in my experience the environment at Maggie’s can help men to overcome some of these

barriers: it is always welcoming, relaxed and feels very different to the clinical environment of a hospital.

At Maggie’s Swansea, we have a lively weekly support group for men at any stage of prostate cancer. It’s our only weekly support group and the men who attend – at least 15 on average a week – benefit from meeting each other, sharing problems, and sharing good news. Conversations vary from weight-gain and sex to the football results. There’s a real atmosphere of camaraderie. We have also found that the partners and wives of the men involved have formed their own support network at the Centre at the same time; they discuss the emotional changes their partners’ experience while going through active treatment. One of the ladies recently said to me: “My husband had to be persuaded to come to Maggie’s, but after his first visit, he couldn’t wait to come back. The support group is very important for wives and partners too. It shows us that we are not alone.”

Many of our Centres run groups for men with prostate cancer, and other cancer-specific support groups. Visit www.maggiescentres.org

At the beginning of this year, I was half way through my basic training for the Met Police in London. I was on the way to my dream job, but then I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of the left fibula, and everything changed.

I was diagnosed in a strange way. I’d had a leg injury that wasn’t going away, and after seeing a couple of physiotherapists I finally went to get a private x-ray. It came back with a report saying: “Possible and suspicious showing of sarcoma, seek urgent medical advice.” After discussing it with my mum on the phone, it was clear that I would have to leave London and my dream job, and go back home to Newcastle to find out what this was and what was needed to fix the situation. The first I heard of Maggie’s was when I was getting booked in for my biopsy. My mother had disappeared off somewhere; when she returned, she seemed a lot calmer and seemed to know far more than I did about my diagnosis. It turned out she’d been across to the Maggie’s Centre in the grounds of the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, and from that moment on, I knew I needed to find out for myself what Maggie’s had to offer.

A whirlwind week passed, during which I was rushed through basic staging and biopsy, and it became clear that I had cancer. During this week I visited the Maggie’s Centre. I was introduced to Karen Verrill, the Centre Head, and was able to sit down with her and find out more about what was going to happen to me. I was distressed and felt out of my depth, confused about my career options and what was going to happen to me, but Karen worked tirelessly to give me comfort as well as solid advice and information. I joke that Maggie’s is a sort of natural Diazepam, helping to relax you even in the most difficult days of your life.

“Every Maggie’s Centre has a clinical psychologist, and Sari Harenwall, the psychologist at Maggie’s Newcastle, has put up with my reluctance to talk and helped me vocalise the difficulties that come with a diagnosis of cancer.”

Since my official diagnosis, Maggie’s has helped me to come to terms with my situation. Every Maggie’s Centre has a clinical psychologist, and Sari Harenwall, the psychologist at Maggie’s Newcastle, has put up with my reluctance to talk and helped me vocalise the difficulties that come with a diagnosis of cancer, while Karen has been there every step of the way for me and my family.

Leaving my dream job in the Police has been the most difficult part of all this, even more so than having my leg amputated. But Maggie’s has always been a place of calm and relaxation. Meeting people who are in the same situation as me has also helped me become less afraid of the situation, and stronger as a person, too.

Maggie’s is more than just a place to come and get a cup of coffee. It provides a safe zone, where emotions are allowed out, and you can really let go and relax and get away from what can feel like hell on earth: on the ward when chemo is taking place, and you are dealing with the doctors and what is going on with your body.


Matthew Hadden, 26, was in training for his dream job in the Metropolitan Police when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. He has had to face having his leg amputated as well as losing his career, but he says Maggie’s has helped him to realise that he’s not alone, and to stay optimistic about his future.

My story

Matthew with Newcastle Centre Head Karen Verrill

Photos (from top): Matthew with his sister Helena; inside Maggie’s Newcastle

“Maggie’s is more than a place to come and get a cup of coffee. It provides a safe zone, where emotions are allowed out, and you can really let go and relax and get away from what can feel like hell on earth.”

I never stop talking about this place to people who haven’t heard of it, and I’d definitely recommend Maggie’s to someone who finds themselves in a similar situation to mine. It has helped me in lots of different ways, from putting me in touch with people who have been through a cancer diagnosis and come out the other side, through to the volunteers who do everything it takes to make sure your visit is as comfortable and stress-free as possible.

Maggie’s has given me the strength to talk about what has happened to me and the ability to look positively at every situation and see that there is a future with this kind of diagnosis.


Plans for a new Maggie’s Centre to be built at St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds have been granted planning permission.

Due to open in 2017, Maggie’s Yorkshire has been designed by Heatherwick Studio, the firm led by Thomas Heatherwick that created the new Routemaster bus for London, as well as the Olympic Cauldron for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Maggie’s Chief Executive Laura Lee said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have been

Maggie’s news

Maggie’s Yorkshire granted planning permission

An award-winning garden inspired by Maggie’s and shown at this year’s RHS Tatton Flower Show in July has been transferred to Maggie’s Merseyside.

Designed by Amanda Waring and Laura Arison, the garden, which won the Silver Gilt award at RHS Tatton, featured a “Maggie’s kitchen table”, inspired by the kitchen table at the heart of every Maggie’s Centre.

This was the second time garden designers Amanda and Laura have joined forces for Maggie’s – the pair won an RHS Gold medal and Best in Show at last year’s event for their Maggie’s Forest Garden.

Gardens are integral to every Maggie’s Centre, and each garden is carefully designed to be a welcoming extension of the inside space, offering uplifting views out from the Centre and a connection to the changing seasons.

The Maggie’s Water Garden celebrated the 25th anniversary of estate and letting agent homes4u, which sponsored the garden.

Maggie’s Merseyside gets RHS award-winning garden

granted planning permission to bring a Maggie’s Centre to Yorkshire. Creating a calm and uplifting environment to enable us to provide our programme of support for people living with cancer is incredibly important and Heatherwick Studio’s wonderful design will allow us to do just that.

“The Leeds Cancer Centre sees more than 12,500 people newly diagnosed with cancer each year and the new Maggie’s Centre will provide the highest quality support to these people and their families and friends.”

Above: the Maggie’s Water Garden; above right: Maggie’s Merseyside

The site will be one of the only green spaces in the hospital grounds, so the design will maximise the open space around the site and use rooftop planting to create an oasis within the built-up environment of the hospital.

The new Centre will enhance the cancer support already offered by the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre through Maggie’s evidence-based core programme of support.

For more information visit www.maggiescentres.org/yorkshire


Maggie’s Centres shortlisted for architecture awards

Alison Harrow, Centre Head at Maggie’s Fife, spoke at the European Cancer Congress, which took place in Vienna in September.

The purpose of the biannual event is to combine the efforts of prominent European oncology professionals, with the aim of improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and the overall care of cancer patients.

Alison’s presentation focused on research she is undertaking into how people view their general health after a cancer diagnosis. Working with Professor Yvonne Wengstrom of Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Alison has been undertaking focus groups, which will form part of a pilot study.

The presentation included information about Maggie’s programme of support, how this pilot study might be carried out within Maggie’s and where it might lead in the future.

Alison plans to work with people who use Maggie’s Centres to explore how a diagnosis of cancer can affect the way they understand terms such as “health” and “wellbeing”,

Maggie’s Fife Centre Head Alison Harrow addresses European Cancer Congress

On the evening of Wednesday 8 July the Maggie’s West London Choir had its first public performance on the riverboat Erasmus, which journeyed down the Thames for a Choir River Cruise.

The 13 members of the Maggie’s Choir sung “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”, the Disney classic from The Lion King, and were joined by the sound of 200 people on board singing along.

The choir also performed a solo rendition of ‘Gift Song’.

Maggie’s West London Choir has its maiden performance on the Thames

Singing in a choir can have physical, psychological, emotional and social benefits, including a boost to your immune system, improvements to posture and muscle tone and gaining confidence.

The Maggie’s West London Choir will perform at the Maggie’s London Christmas Carol concert, which takes place at the Wren Chapel at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea on 10 December.

For more information visit your local Centre or www.maggiescentres.org

and whether they are able to recognise how nutrition and exercise may be beneficial to them. She will also work alongside the team in Sweden to ensure Maggie’s continues to provide the best possible support to people affected by cancer.

More information www.europeancancercongress.org

Maggie’s Lanarkshire

Maggie’s Oxford

Maggie’s Oxford

Maggie’s Oxford is shortlisted for the Wood Awards 2015, which celebrates excellence in architecture and product design in buildings using wood. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre, the tree house-inspired design earned Maggie’s Oxford a place on the shortlist with its innovative use of timber to raise it above the ground.

Maggie’s Lanarkshire, designed by Reiach and Hall Architects was one of six buildings shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize 2015, the UK’s highest award for architecture, which was won by Burntwood School in South London.

Maggie’s West London, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, won the Stirling Prize in 2009.

Maggie’s Chief Executive Laura Lee said: “Our Centres are designed to create a calm and uplifting environment where we provide a much-needed programme of support to strengthen the physical and emotional wellbeing of people with cancer and their families and friends. Each day we see the benefits that design and architecture can have on health and wellbeing, as well as the positive impact it has on those who visit one of our Centres.”


Fundraising news

This year’s Culture Crawl was the biggest yet, with some 1,500 walkers heading out into the night across seven cities to raise money for Maggie’s. Throughout September, walkers took part in night-time walks, exploring the hidden gems of London, Oxford, Nottingham, Newcastle, Swansea, Cambridge, and Edinburgh.

Across all locations, walkers enjoyed a host of cultural, architectural and artistic delights, with stories, refreshments and entertainment along the way, all to raise as much money as possible so that Maggie’s can continue to support its network of Centres across the UK and develop its unique programme of support.

Sue Pringle, who participated in Culture Crawl Nottingham, said: “I decided to

David Blackmore has completed an amazing three-day endurance challenge for Maggie’s, raising more than £12,000 in what he has named the Maggie’s Xtreme 3.

Beginning on 11 September, David, who is Commercial Director at Fleet Alliance, journeyed across the rugged Scottish Highlands running, kayaking and cycling 168 miles from Maggie’s Highlands to Maggie’s Glasgow in just three days.

The distance run alone was the equivalent of three back-to-back marathons with a further 23 miles of rowing and 68 miles of cycling to contend with. David beat his original target of £10,000.

Maggie’s encourages fundraisers to launch their own Maggie’s to Maggie’s challenge, navigating between some, or all, of our stunning Maggie’s Centres while taking in some of the UK’s best landscapes.

David Blackmore raises £12,000 in “Xtreme 3 challenge”

join the Culture Crawl to raise funds for Maggie’s, which I think is a very special sanctuary for people and their families dealing with the impact of cancer, one I understand.”

The London Culture Crawl was curated by Sandy Nairne, the curator who is head of Maggie’s Art Group, while author Alexander McCall Smith curated the Edinburgh event and wrote a special short story for it.

Maggie’s is extremely grateful to all those who participated. Special thanks goes to event sponsors Capco (London), Brodies LLP (Edinburgh) and Unum (Oxford, Nottingham, Newcastle, Swansea and Cambridge), as well as to all the volunteers who helped on the night and everyone who made the events possible.

To find out more about David’s amazing challenge and support his fundraising, visit: www.justgiving.com/maggiesx3

This year ,the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair named Maggie’s as its beneficiary.

The fair, held annually in Berkeley Square in London’s Mayfair, took place on 22–27 September, and featured some of the UK’s finest art, antiques and decorative arts, attracting more than 20,000 enthusiasts and collectors from around the world. As beneficiary, Maggie’s was delighted to host the “Maggie’s Party at LAPADA”

event sponsored by Delancey, a specialist real estate company. The party involved a reception, a private view of the fair, silent and live auctions, and a dinner in the Fair Brasserie and was attended by special guests including Julian Fellowes (pictured).

The evening raised £300,000 to help grow Maggie’s network of Centres across London and to continue to support people with cancer and their families and friends.

LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair raises thousands for Maggie’s

Maggie’s celebrates seven UK Culture Crawl events

Weaver of luxury accessories Begg & Co has created four exclusive and limited edition scarves for Maggie’s, which will be on sale this Christmas.

Retailing at around £265 each, the scarves will be produced in a limited edition of just 400 (100 of each design) so will make a perfect Christmas gift for someone special.

The scarves will go on sale from mid-November, and will be available from the Begg & Co website, at department store Fenwick and Edinburgh’s boutique store Jane Davidson, with all proceeds donated to Maggie’s.The idea for the project came from Scottish journalist, broadcaster and Maggie’s Honorary Patron Kirsty Wark,

who approached Begg & Co with the idea to create a bespoke scarf design for Maggie’s – in fact, the company were so inspired by Maggie’s they decided to put four designs into production.

Begg & Co has been weaving luxury cashmere, silk and lambswool angora accessories in Scotland since 1866, and today combines traditional weaving and finishing methods with modern production techniques. Having created scarves for major couture houses around the world, Begg & Co launched its own brand in 2013.

The limited edition Maggie’s scarves are available to pre-order now exclusively from Begg & Co and will be on sale at Fenwick, 63 New Bond Street, London

Begg & Co creates limited edition scarves for Maggie’s

and Fenwick Newcastle, 39 Northumberland Street, Newcastle upon Tyne and Jane Davidson, 52 Thistle Street Edinburgh.

Buy the scarves at: www.beggandcompany.com www.fenwick.co.uk and www.janedavidson.co.uk

Friday 4 December, 7·30pm Maggie’s Highlands Christmas Quiz NightJoin the team from Maggie’s Highlands at Dows Bar and Bistro for a Christmas quiz, raffle and mini auction; £25 per team. To book email [email protected] or call 01463 706302

Monday 7 December, 7·30pm Maggie’s Newcastle Christmas Carol ConcertChristmas carols at the parish Church of St George, Jesmond; Tickets £15. To book tickets go to www.maggiescentres.org/newcastle-carols or call 0191 2336600

Saturday 5 December, 7pm Maggie’s Wallace (Cambridge) Christmas Carol ConcertChristmas carols at Wesley Church, Christ Pieces, Featuring Cambridge Harmony Group. To book tickets go to www.maggiescentres.org/wallacecarols or call 01223 249 220

Thursday 3 December, 6pm Maggie’s Fife Christmas Carol Concert Students from the Fife Academy of Performing Arts, singer Horse McDonald and Paul Ellis as Frank Sinatra perform at the Old Kirk, Kirkcaldy. Tickets £10. Email [email protected] or call 01592 647997

Wednesday 9 December, 6pm Maggie’s Nottingham Christmas Carol Concert Christmas carols at St Barnabus Cathedral, Nottingham hosted by journalist and BBC TV presenter Maurice Flynn. Tickets: £10/£7.50 (concessions); £20 with dinner. To book tickets go to www.maggiescentres.org/nottinghamcarols or call 0115 924 6210

Thursday 10 December, 6pm Maggie’s Oxford Christmas Carol Concert At Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, the Vespri Segreti Choir will perform Christmas carols. Tickets: £15, £30, £50 and £75 – with access to a VIP reception afterwards in Christ Church College. For tickets go to www.maggiescentres.org/oxfordcarols or call 01865 751882

Thursday 10 December, 7pm Maggie’s West London Christmas Carol Concert At The Wren Chapel, Royal Hospital Chelsea, featuring The Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital and Maggie’s own West London Choir, as well as readings by special guests including novelist Sebastian Faulks and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. Tickets £75, including a post-concert drinks and canapés reception in the Great Hall. To book tickets go to www.maggiescentres.org/christmascarols or call Debbie Dundas on 01242 250 611

Saturday 12 December, 7·30pm Maggie’s Merseyside Christmas Carol Concert Ellesmere Port Civic Hall will host the Ellesmere Port Music Society Choir. Tickets £15/£7.50 (students). Tickets: www.maggiescentres.org/merseysidecarols or call 0151 334 4301

Thursday 17 December, 6·30pm Maggie’s Cheltenham Christmas Carol ConcertJoin the Mayor of Cheltenham and special guests including singer Hattie Briggs for carols at Christ Church, Malvern Road, Cheltenham. Tickets £15. To book tickets go to www.maggiescentres.org/cheltenhamcarols2015 or call 0151 3344301

Friday 4 December, 7pm German Christmas Evening at Maggie’s Dundee Come to Maggie’s Dundee for a German themed Christmas evening hosted by Sophie Siegal. Email [email protected] or call 01382 632999

Saturday 21 November, 10am–2pm Christmas Fair at Maggie’s AberdeenMaggie’s Aberdeen will host a family fun-fair with a range of festive stalls to get you in the mood for Christmas. Tickets £5. Email [email protected] or call 01224 612 914

Sunday 29 November, 2pm Christmas Music at Óran Mór (organised by Maggie’s Glasgow) A festive afternoon of mulled wine, mince pies and music. Tickets £25. To book tickets go to www.maggiescentres.org/glasgowcarols or call 0141 357 2269

Thursday 3 December, 1pm Tree Lighting at Maggie’s LanarkshireJoin the team at Maggie’s Lanarkshire with the Falkirk Gaelic Choir for a tree-lighting ceremony to celebrate Christmas. Email [email protected] or call 01236 771199

Saturday 28 November, 7pm Maggie’s Swansea Christmas Carol Concert Welsh male voice choir Gwalia Singers will perform at All Saints Church, Mumbles, Swansea. Tickets £10. Email [email protected] or call 01792 200 000

Maggie’s Christmas Carol ConcertsA few words from some faces you might see on the night …


Diary

The Maggie’s Christmas Carol Concert is a wonderful experience welcoming everyone together to celebrate not only Christmas, but all the work that Maggie’s does. Maggie’s West London was vital in my recovery from Oesophageal Cancer.

The surgeons, doctors, and nurses provide the medical help but cannot be expected to provide for the practical and emotional needs of patients. This is why Maggie’s is so important.

It has been a privilege to have been involved with organising the Maggie’s London Carol Concert since the opening of Maggie’s West London in 2008. Each year the Concert has grown like a rolling snowball, gathering supporters, sponsors, readers and musicians. This year we’re lucky to be holding the concert in the gorgeous Wren Chapel at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea with a reception in the magnificent Great Hall. I am hugely looking forward to celebrating Maggie’s and Christmas in this very special place.

As Centre Fundraising Board Chairman, I’m looking forward to attending and taking part in this year’s Carol Concert, which follows the success of the first Maggie’s Fife Carol Concert last year. Once again we are very grateful to Karen Drummond, the students of Fife Academy of Performing Arts and the wonderful Horse McDonald for supporting this event. It’s an excellent opportunity for the people of Fife to join together to support the vital service provided by Maggie’s to all those affected by cancer.

Every autumn the people who work for Maggie’s get in touch and ask me to write something moving and uplifting and funny for their Carol Service. They are kind and caring people and the charity provides such wonderful and invaluable support that it is quite impossible to say no. I try to say no. I tell them how difficult it is to write something moving and uplifting and funny, but they don’t care. They just make me feel more and more guilty until I say yes. They are merciless in their niceness. Someone please stop them. Otherwise I’ll have to move.

Sam Barbic Maggie’s supporter

London Christmas Carol Concert

Emma Defries Chair of the Christmas Carol Concert Committee


Dr Bob Grant Maggie’s Fife Fundraising Board Chairman

Fife Christmas Carol Concert

Paul Mayhew- Archer Co-writer of The Vicar Of Dibley

Oxford Christmas Carol Concert

I have known Jane Fide, the Centre Head at Cheltenham, for a long time, and I am a strong supporter of the Centre and the work it does. I was fortunate enough to perform in their Carol Concert last year, and it was such a wonderful experience. It’s a pleasure to support the great work the Centre does and I am really looking forward to performing again this year.

I’ll admit I hadn’t heard of Maggie’s until I came to work in Nottingham a few years back. Now I can’t imagine how any city copes without one! My mum died in Oxford from lung cancer in 2012, before the city had its Maggie’s Centre. After knowing what life is like without a Maggie’s, to be asked to get involved with a concert that helps Maggie’s help others is my absolute pleasure.

Hattie Briggs Singer-songwriter

Cheltenham Christmas Carol Concert

Maurice Flynn BBC Journalist

Nottingham Christmas Carol Concert

I’m very happy to have been asked to read at this year’s carol concert for such a splendid charity. Almost everyone at the service will have been affected by cancer in some way – whether they have had it themselves or have been close to someone who has. I hope that everyone who comes on the night enjoys celebrating the run-up to Christmas, as well as all the wonderful work Maggie’s does.

I was drawn to this small charity because of the clear-minded aims of the late Maggie Keswick Jencks – to create an imaginative, inspiring place for people to go at a critical time in their lives, somewhere that feels joyous, a beacon of hope after the diagnosis of cancer. This will be the second Christmas music event for Maggie’s Glasgow, and I’m really looking forward to what promises to be a special afternoon.

Sebastian Faulks Novelist


Kirsty Wark Journalist and Maggie’s Honorary Patron

Maggie’s Glasgow Christmas music©

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Books and more

In each issue we bring you a selection of books that reflect different aspects of our programme of support, as well as writing that engages with the many complex issues that surround a diagnosis of cancer.

Poetry Recommendations

Sentenced to LifeBy Clive James

In 2010, the poet, critic, broadcaster and wit Clive James was diagnosed with leukaemia and emphysema. Since then, he has continued to write.

With permission from his publisher, Pan Macmillan, we reprint the title poem from his latest collection, Sentenced to Life.

Added time: Surviving Cancer, Death Threats and the Premier Leagueby Mark Halsey with Ian Ridley, £8.99

A powerful and poignant story of referee Mark Halsey’s battle with throat cancer, how he dealt with surgery and treatment, and how he finally returned to the game.

How Football Saved my Lifeby Alan Stubbs, £8.99

At the peak of his career, footballer Alan Stubbs was diagnosed with testicular cancer. In this memoir, he recalls the despair he felt, and how, with the support of family, friends, fans and terrific doctors, he pulled through to resume his career at the top.

Until Further Notice, I am Alive by Tom Lubbock, £9.99

Faced with only a few years to live, art critic Tom Lubbock decided to confront the experience of mortality through writing, wrestling with the paradoxical question of how to live when we know we are going to die.

My Mum Monicaby Jamie McIntosh, £7

Jamie’s mum, Monica, had been fighting breast cancer for all of Jamie’s life, and sadly died in 2013. This is his moving memoir of their life together.

Visit www.maggiescentres.org/librarylist

Sentenced to life, I sleep face-up as though

Ice-bound, lest I should cough the night away,

And when I walk the mile to town, I show

The right technique for wading through deep clay.

A sad man, sorrier than he can say.

But surely not so guilty he should die

Each day from knowing that his race is run:

My sin was to be faithless. I would lie

As if I could be true to everyone

At once, and all the damage that was done

Was in the name of love, or so I thought.

I might have met my death believing this,

But no, there was a lesson to be taught.

Now, not just old, but ill, with much amiss,

I see things with a whole new emphasis.

My daughter’s garden has a goldfish pool

With six fish, each a little finger long.

I stand and watch them following their rule

Of never touching, never going wrong:

Trajectories as perfect as plain song.

Once, I would not have noticed; nor have known

The name for Japanese anemones,

So pale, so frail. But now I catch the tone

Of leaves. No birds can touch down in the trees

Without my seeing them. I count the bees.

Even my memories are clearly seen:

Whence comes the answer if I’m told I must

Be aching for my homeland. Had I been

Dulled in the brain to match my lungs of dust

There’d be no recollection I could trust.

Yet I, despite my guilt, despite my grief,

Watch the Pacific sunset, heaven sent,

In glowing colours and in sharp relief,

Painting the white clouds when the day is spent,

As if it were my will and testament –

As if my first impressions were my last,

And time had only made them more defined,

Now I am weak. The sky is overcast

Here in the English autumn, but my mind

Basks in the light I never left behind.

Sentenced to Life is published by Picador, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, and is available to buy online and in bookshops; £14.99.

Creative writing can be a way to explore thoughts, ideas and emotions that you might otherwise find difficult to express, and many of our Centres offer creative writing groups. If you would like to try creative writing, please contact your nearest Centre to find out more. Details of your nearest Maggie’s Centre are on the back cover, or go online: www.maggiescentres.org

Creative writing at Maggie’s

Proceeds go to Maggie’sand FACE


In the last month of his life, the celebrated Welsh artist Osi Rhys Osmond began working on a watercolour painting for Maggie’s South East Wales, which is due to open at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff in 2017.

He had decided to create what he described as a “psychogeography”, layering colour, images and text in a piece inspired by his own life story, his experience of living with cancer and his beloved home town of Wattsville. Self Portrait would be a piece to wander through; a work that would be perceived differently by every person who encounters it, a sensual journey woven with threads of personal experience.

The technique of psychogeography is inspired by Baudelaire’s concept of le flâneur – a traveller who journeys languidly about a city, finding richness in the everyday happenings around him. In Self Portrait, Osi’s story would become a creative environment from which each person can plot their own path. As we look, we travel through a piece layered with history, geography, culture and language, taking our meaning as we go, finding points of resonance as we journey through Osi’s story. He discussed his vision with the architects of Maggie’s South East Wales, Biba Dow and Alun Jones, who were so inspired by the conversation that they designed a special sunlit space for the painting to hang when the Centre opens.

Aware of the way in which cancer undermines a person’s sense of identity, Osi sought to build meaning and connections by giving people a sense of control within his painting, much in the same spirit as a Maggie’s Centre does. Though he was too

Before he died in March this year, celebrated Welsh artist Osi Rhys Osmond began work on a painting for the Maggie’s Centre planned for Cardiff, a journey that became the subject of an extraordinary short film. Katy Mahood, Maggie’s Campaign Marketing Manager, tells the story.

Our art

Watch My Brief Eternity at www.maggiescentres.org/mybriefeternity #maggiesart

ill to travel to his nearest Centre, he saw the value of Maggie’s in helping people to adapt to living with cancer.

He said: “One of the valuable things a Maggie’s Centre can do is help people make that adjustment to being this person who is, in a sense, a different person to the person who didn’t have cancer.”

“My artwork is a story, a narrative, a ‘psychogeography’... It’s almost like a punctuation mark in a life, isn’t it? But it’s not a conclusion, a summary, an end. It’s a beginning: it will exist after me”

With great sensitivity and care, BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Clare Sturges worked with Osi and his wife Hilary to document the creation of this final piece of art.

She said: “When we started filming I didn’t know Osi very well, but I knew he had a story that he wanted to share … I knew that he agreed to work with me for a reason … he was conscious of his own death approaching. He wanted to leave a legacy.”

The 12-minute film, My Brief Eternity: Ar Awyr Le, explores the artist’s reflections on the power of art – its role and significance in his life, and its value in coping and living with

Recommendations

For more information about Maggie’s South East Wales and how to support: www.maggiescentres.org/southeastwales

cancer. Osi talks about life and death, about art as a prism for capturing the experience of being alive, and the creative process as a metaphor for living and dying, managing to inspire even in the face of his own imminent death: “I believe that our lives are our infinities. I don’t remember what happened before and I won’t remember or have any knowledge of what happens afterwards, so I don’t fear death in that respect because it’s not going to happen. So this is what I call my brief eternity.”

Osi died in March 2015, before he had completed Self Portrait; and although the work remains unfinished, it stands alone as a beautiful artefact that captures Osi’s sense of hope, and which will enrich the Centre and the experience of all who visit.


Something good to eatFood writer and judge of The Great British Bake Off Mary Berry shares her recipe for Sunday orange spice cake, which appears in The Royal Marsden Cancer Cookbook. Maggie’s is currently planning a new Centre at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey.

Sunday orange spice cake

“A fresh, spiced orange cake. You could use just under half the orange filling to sandwich the cakes together, and spread the rest on top.”Mary Berry

Makes 1 × 20cm cake / Serves 12

IngredientsFor the cake: 1 small thin-skinned orange 275g self-raising flour 3 level teaspoons baking powder 275g caster sugar 225g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 4 free-range eggs 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon mixed spice

For the filling: 50g unsalted butter, softened 175g icing sugar, sifted, plus a little extra for dusting 2 level tablespoons orange pulp, reserved from the cake

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Grease and base line two deep 20cm sandwich tins.

2 Place the whole orange in a small saucepan, cover with boiling water and simmer until soft, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3 When the orange is cool enough to handle, cut in half and remove any pips. Transfer the whole orange, skin included, to a food-processor and process until medium chunky. Remove and reserve 2 level tablespoons of the orange pulp for the icing. Add the remaining cake ingredients to the processor and blend until just smooth. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins.

4 Bake in the preheated oven for 25–30 minutes. When the cake is shrinking away from the sides and is springy to touch, remove from the oven. Leave to cool in the tins for a few moments, then turn out onto a cooling rack and peel off the paper.

5 To make the orange filling, cream the soft butter, then add the sifted icing sugar and reserved orange pulp. Sandwich the cakes together with the icing, and sift icing sugar over the top of the cake.

6 This is best eaten freshly made but it will store in an airtight container for 2–3 days. You could also freeze the filled cake for up to 2 months. Thaw for 2–3 hours at room temperature.

Tip Thin-skinned oranges

are usually smaller – avoid using Jaffa

oranges as they have a very thick pith.


Puzzles

By Chris Maslanka

Clues Across9 Small folded paper or card for an

informal message (7)

10 Repeat (7)

11 Found in honeycombs and used in polish (7)

12 Friendly (7)

13 It’s called a station wagon in the US (6, 3)

15 Keen— as a beaver? (5)

16 Sequoia (7)

19 Works together— in Silesia! (7)

20 Unsupported assurance; authorisation (3-2)

21 A grand sum (anagram) (9)

25 An ideal husband? (2, 5)

26 Extreme, radical (7)

28 Flyer (7)

29 Ointment (7)

Number Conundrums1 “Clocks can be confoundedly confusing,”

exclaimed Chris Chronos. “While one hand moves the other doesn’t just stand still, it plays catch-up; so the angle between the two hands at 3·30 is not 90º, as you might at first carelessly think, but somewhat less.” What is the angle between the hands at 3·30?

[The angle of one complete revolution is 360º]

2 A water-sodden sponge weighs 1 kilogram. It is 99% water by weight. After a squeeze it is only 98% water by weight. How much does it weigh now?

3 In a rather surreal Reality Show complete sets of triplets mingle with complete sets of quadruplets, the number of quads exceeding the number of triplets by 4. What is the smallest number of children present?

4 Abe and Babe’s teacher set the class a problem to keep them out of mischief while he went back to the staff-room. The task was to add up all the digits used in the numbers from 1 to 1,000. Abe started to write them all out while Babe did a few lines of working and wrote the answer down. What was the short cut she used— and what was the answer?

5 And finally, a puzzle for cat lovers! If: CAT CAT + CAT AAA and C, A and T are each different digits, what is CAT in numbers?

Ask Me Another1 After whom did Colin Dexter name

Inspector Morse and Lewis?

2 Who killed Agamemnon, and where?

3 What colour is the Jubilee Line on maps of the London Underground?

4 What are the two main ingredients of tzatziki?

5 English is the official language of Botswana; what is the national language spoken by over 90% of the inhabitants?

6 What are the colours of the flag of Chad?

7 Who was the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated?

8 Which planet rotates almost on its side? That is, has its axis of rotation almost in the plane of its orbit around the sun?

9 Of which two gases is the sun overwhelmingly made up?

10 Which horse won the 2015 Grand National?

11 Which mammal besides humans can host the leprosy bacillus?

12 Which singer was the heart of the Columbus Day Riot?

Word Play 1 Rearrange the letters of OPTIMAL REACH

to make another word.

2 Country Garden

Identify these two words that differ only in the letters shown:

SW**** country… **** … garden

3 Return of Service Name a tennis player whose name reads the same if the order of the letters is reversed.

4 -dum or –dee? Which is easier to spell: Tweedledum or Tweedledee?

5 Cryptic A hundred a fifty ones — they’re all the same! (6)

6 Two Verbs Make a Noun Write down a 3-letter verb followed by the 3-letter past tense of the same verb — to get a noun. (3-3)

Clues Down1 Empower (a person) or activate

(a device) (6)

2 Not moving (2, 4)

3 A – worm is a lizard (4)

4 Unco-ordinated (of movement) (6)

5 Involving both ears (8)

6 Sense (overgrown?) of one’s own dignity or worth (4-6)

7 Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax - Of (8) -- and kings— (Lewis Carroll)

8 Rare Lens (anagram) (8)

14 Downright (10)

16 Look like (8)

17 First light (8)

18 Sounds like a single figure number (like the one at the end of this clue)— but it means “Shape like a spread hand” (8)

22 Enthusiasm or passion (6)

23 Age is an issue of mind over — if you don’t mind, it doesn’t — Mark Twain (6)

24 Fiddly detail (6)

27 The name of Jason’s ship (4)

Maggie’s Matters

Editor Jamie Mitchell Design Havas Worldwide London Cover photography Philip Durrant Layout Alice Snape Cover design Malcom Clarke Printing Wyndeham Grange We welcome any feedback or queries: [email protected]. To receive a digital edition, please email: [email protected]

If you have any queries regarding these puzzles, contact Chris Maslanka:[email protected]

For solutions visit: www.maggiescentres.org/puzzleanswers

Notes

Crossword by

Chris Maslanka 1=2=3=4=5=6=7=8 9______=0______ _=_=_=_=_=_=_=_ a______=b______ _=_===_=_=_=_=_ c___d____=e____ ====_===_=_=_=_ f_g___h=i______ _=_=_=_===_==== j____=k_l___m_n _=_=_=_=_===_=_ o______=p_q____ _=_=_=_=_=_=_=_ r______=s______ _=_=_=_=_=_=_=_

Environmental Profile

Chain of Custody cerfiedECF PulpISO 14001EU Eco LabelEU EMASRecyclable

�� www.denmaur.com

Paper supplied by

The first Maggie’s Centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996; since then we have grown to have 18 Centres at major NHS hospitals in the UK, online and abroad. We are continuing to plan and build new Maggie’s Centres so that we can help as many people as possible to find their way through cancer. www.maggiescentres.org

Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Centres Trust (Maggie’s) is a registered charity, No.SC024414

Documents

Maggie's Matters – Autumn 2015