MAGGIE THE BRAVE

YOU have a pain in your back, which may be a slipped disc. You are feeling exhausted. Your doctor does a few blood tests; you then ask for a scan. After various referrals you end up in the oncology department of an NHS hospital, where a consultant breaks the news to you that the breast cancer you beat five years ago has moved to your liver, bone and marrow. Your life expectancy is, sadly, three to four months - "and I'm so sorry, dear, but could we move you to the corridor? We have so many patients waiting."

This is how Maggie Jencks, founder of the Maggie's Centres, received her diagnosis of cancer in 1988. She fought back, gained an 18-month remission and, during that time, with the help of doctors, family and friends, she created a blueprint for the first Maggie's in the grounds of Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

She died a year before she could see it finished, but she had inspired a sense of purpose in those around her.

Everybody who knew Maggie was captivated by her radiant, giving personality.

As Maggie's friend, the author Jung Chang, said: "She was one of the very few truly great women I have ever known."

Put through tests by her terminal illness, she demonstrated great nobility.

Maggie, to me, with her qualities of generosity, intelligence and inner richness and peace, was an ideal example of a good person.

Maggie was never the tragic heroine.

She faced death with genuine cheerfulness, far too preoccupied with love and her many interests.

"The image of Maggie that will always be with me is a sunny girl who could shine through any tempest."

There are now four Maggie's cancer caring centres in Scotland, and eight further centres under development in the rest of the UK - all to be made possible by local support.

The good news for Londoners is that Maggie's is coming here.

Everyone of us has been touched by cancer in seeing someone we love suffer though both sickness and treatment. The medical advances are now so complex and rapid that it is difficult to keep on top of what is happening if you are undergoing treatment, never mind that you feel so grim at that time.

Several years ago, I was approached by Maggie's chief executive, Laura Lee, who was Maggie Jencks's oncology nurse and who has seen the charity grow from an inspired idea to a realised dream.

I visited the first centre in Edinburgh, which is adjacent to the hospital.

My first impression was of a light, colourful environment with a huge kitchen and a comfortable library full of books and other information. Patients and relatives were able to use the space and talk freely to a welcoming team of professional staff.

FROM the start, Maggie's also aimed to provide a positive impact on the environment in the belief that this has a profound effect on people.

The amazing team behind Maggie's is very persuasive in attracting the best internationally renowned architects to donate their services free to create these unique spaces.

At a reception at 11 Downing Street, I was privileged to see the architectural models and hear the passion with which the architects described their work. In London, the new Maggie's Centre has been designed by the award-winning architect Richard Rogers, who is more often at work on massive multimillion pound buildings.

Londoners will have an open-plan and welcoming building full of light, and the surrounding area will be carefully landscaped with trees, a water wall and small courtyards.

A unique quality of Maggie's Centres is their accessibility to patients.

They are all located in hospital grounds, easy to find and available to everyone. They work on a drop-in basis, free for anyone, both patients and carers. Independent of the NHS, they aim to complement hospital treatment rather than question or compete with it.

They offer practical advice for tackling all the medical information, access to other cancer charities, nutritional, fitness and stress management advice and - above all - emotional support. As Laura Lee says: "We aim to turn patients back into people."

Judging by the number of people walking through the doors, Maggie's has tapped into a genuine need.

Can Maggie's make a difference in London? The answer seems to be a resounding "yes". The figures speak for themselves - 150,000 people in London are living with cancer at any one time. Hammersmith NHS trust, which runs one of the largest and best-respected cancer services for one of the most diverse populations in the country, seeing more than 6,000 new cancer patients every year, is fully behind Maggie's.

"Above all, what matters is not to lose the joy of living in the fear of dying. Involvement in one's own treatment is an empowering weapon in this battle."

That is what Maggie Jencks believed and that is what Maggie's will strive to achieve for Londoners who are struggling with the bombshell of a cancer diagnosis.

A Maggie's Centre in London will be a landmark in its own right and a haven for people needing information and support at a critical time.

As Maggie herself said: "Cancer hits you like a punch in the stomach.

"Each of us knows, through family and friends, the searing pain that cancer brings in its wake. What people need is comfort, joy, a ray of light in the darkness."

That is why I am backing the Evening Standard's campaign to build a Maggie's for Londoners.

. Maggie Keswick Jencks's words were taken from A View From the Front Line, www.maggies.ed.ac.uk

IN HER OWN WORDS

I have no deep illusions of long survival. But I mean to keep on marching, down the tail of the statistical curve and on, into the sunset, and then, when eventually I must die, to die as well as possible

The diagnosis had been as hard on my family as it was for me. For oneself it is possible to accept anything; not so for those one loves.

Seeing the suffering of my husband, mother and teenage children affected me physically. At one time I could not sit, or lie, or stand, listen or speak coherently because my shattered mind vibrated so violently through my body

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