Help us design support services for Black and Asian people with blood cancer

If so, you could help us design new blood cancer support services that are created with and for your community. We believe people with lived experience should get to decide what is important to them and what services are needed in their community.

By taking part in this project, you'll talk to Blood Cancer UK about your personal experiences of blood cancer, but also about your wider life, your support networks and strengths as well as challenges. You'll help identify some of the unmet needs and gaps that Blood Cancer UK should focus on in your community.

You don't need any prior awareness or involvement with the charity to take part in this.

• What: You'll meet with someone from our team (Abi, Amy, Nina or someone else from the support services team) to talk about your experience of having blood cancer. We'll talk about the cancer, but we'll also talk about your wider life, to understand your support networks and strengths as well as any challenges. This will take the form of an informal conversation. You can bring someone else with you if you want for support.
  We will come to where you are, so we can meet face to face, either at your home or a public place of your choosing (eg a favourite cafe or community setting) - this is so we get to know you and your wider context better.
• Time commitment: 2-3 hours.
• When and where: We’d like to speak to people in July and August. We’ll arrange a date, time and location that works for you.
• Compensation: To say thank you for your time we will reimburse you £100 by bank transfer or vouchers (whichever you prefer). On top of this we will pay for any food and drink, and any travel expenses you have. We will also re-imburse you for childcare/caring costs, or any other costs that impact your ability to take part. This may include reimbursing a carer if you would not be able to attend without them.
• Eligibility: For this project, we need to hear from people who have been diagnosed with blood cancer, and who are from a Black or Asian background. This is because the project is specifically focussed on meeting the needs of these communities.
• Skills and knowledge needed: None - just a willingness to talk to us about your experience with blood cancer. You don't need any prior awareness or involvement with the charity either.
• Safeguarding: We will have safeguarding and support mechanisms in place - we can tell you more about this before you take part.

The aim of this work is to explore ideas for new blood cancer services that will meet the needs of Black and Asian communities in the UK.

After the initial phase of one-to-one conversations described above, there will be some in-person workshops later in the year. These will bring people together, so you can meet other people affected by blood cancer in your community, and be creative together in coming up with solutions that will work for your community. The workshops are optional and you can decide whether you want to take part on those later.

The ultimate outcome will be ideas for new and improved blood cancer support services that Blood Cancer UK can build into our current services.

You can tell us you’re interested in by filling in our very short 'expression of interest' form. By submitting this form, you are not committing to anything, just expressing your interest in finding out more. We will then contact you to tell you more. You can decide whether to go ahead later:

We’ll collect information such as your name and contact details. We may ask for additional information with your consent such as your ethnicity and cancer type. Your data will be stored securely by Blood Cancer UK and TPXimpact (our research partner) and will not be used for any other purpose other than described above.

If you’d prefer to have a chat about what’s involved before expressing any further interest, you can contact Abi on [email protected] - we’d love to hear from you!

If you're a healthcare professional who would like to support this work, you can download and print this A4 poster and display it in patient waiting areas or common areas: