Pam takes a leading role in supporting women in need

IT is two years since I first visited The Breast Cancer Haven in Leeds. The doors of the sanctuary for women affected by the disease were about to open. The Haven, in the impressive Gateway building in Leeds, was built and the paint in the therapy rooms was dry, and the therapists in place, all that was needed were the "visitors", as the women who use the Haven are euphemistically called.

Two years on and the Haven is buzzing. More than 750 visitors have passed through its healing doors, all helped on their road to physical and emotional recovery.

Now, with a new chief executive at the helm, the future for the Haven (it has dropped the "breast cancer" label) looks bright.

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Pam Healy comes fresh from the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence. On the surface these roles do not immediately seem easy bedfellows.

But Pam assures me that there are many similarities between her roles.

"At the MoD I had people working all over the country and as I am London-based and running three Havens in London, Hereford and here in Leeds it will take similar skills to manage dispersed teams," she explains.

"I was used to organising a team which was serving the nation; here I am organising a team which is serving women."

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But it was on a recent trip along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu for breast cancer charity "Walk the Walk" that a decision to shift career paths solidified in Pam's mind.

"I've always tried to do my bit for charity because I do believe in putting something back," says Pam.

"Someone suggested that I join the Walk the Walk trip to Machu Picchu. For someone who totters around in stilettos and a skirt all day it was quite a challenge, as this was serious walking – 12 hours a day in temperatures which went from minus 20 to plus 30. But I am up for a challenge"

But it was when Pam stopped to think about all the people she knew with breast cancer that the trek took on a deeper significance than just a personal challenge.

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"I counted more than 10 women who had been of significant influence in my life and had been affected by breast cancer.

"The more I thought about it the more important it became."

She had already decided it was time to leave the MoD and was looking for a new challenge.

She'd applied for the Haven post having seen it advertised before she left for her trip, but had missed her second interview because she was

in Peru.

"Machu Picchu is an awe- inspiring place. It is very spiritual. It was a challenge for me personally, it also gave me chance to step outside of my normal life which you never normally do.

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"It gave me time to think about what I really wanted to do with my life in the longer term and realise that the time was right to move in a different direction."

Brought up in Staffordshire, but with family stretching across Yorkshire, from Bardsey to Scarborough, Pam studied Geography at Exeter University and joined the Women's Royal Navy Service on graduating.

Starting as she meant to go on, she excelled immediately and was commissioned as an officer after just six months, and saw service across the world in places as far away as Hong Kong.

It was during her time as a Wren that she first specialised in communications, with a focus on cryptography.

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Leaving the WRNS after six years, Pam joined the Royal Naval Reserve in media and communications, where she handled increasingly weighty situations such as the Lockerbie air disaster and the handover of

Hong Kong.

But it was her role as director of media and communications for the Bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar which saw her awarded an OBE for "inspiring leadership and professionalism".

Pam met her husband while at officer training college in Dartmouth and they have two children.

She says she hopes she has instilled in them her sense of social conscience. She sees other similarities between her naval career and that of working for the Haven.

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"The Haven is like a big family with everyone looking out for each other, in a way the Navy is a family.

"I am really delighted to be able to join The Haven, in particular the Yorkshire Haven has been a real success in its first two years – we are attracting visitors from as far afield as Derby and Newcastle.

"More than 750 women have benefited from the in-depth personal service we offer over this time.

"Now that we have proven that there is such a strong need in Yorkshire to help those affected by breast cancer one of my first aims is to explore ways to further develop and expand our services."

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Pam has plans for the future of the Haven, but in the short-term she

wants to consolidate the good work that has been done in Leeds and ensure that its funding is secure.

"It is a difficult time for all charities and we have to be innovative in our fund-raising.

"But I am just glad to be part of the Haven family."

Sara Davenport founded The Haven in London in 1997 because she was concerned by the lack of emotional support and information available at that time to anyone diagnosed with the illness, after her nanny was struck down by the disease.

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Since then she has opened two more Havens, one in Hereford and one in Leeds which was opened in 2008 by Girls Aloud singer, Bradford's Kimberley Walsh.

About 4,000 women a year are diagnosed with breast cancer in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Through the provision of support, information and complementary therapies, The Haven supports the physical and emotional needs of anyone affected by breast cancer and its associated treatment.

Working alongside the NHS and other healthcare professionals, Havens promote integrated breast cancer care where conventional and complementary medicine work together to heal the body and mind.

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The charity was founded in 1997 and the Prince of Wales became its patron in 2000.

The Leeds Haven has six individual therapy rooms, a group therapy room, kitchen and bathrooms.

Women visiting the Haven will get a programme of 12 one-hour sessions of complementary therapies, nutritional advice and counselling.

The Yorkshire Haven has been made possible by generous donations from local businesses and individuals, but all running costs also have to be paid for by charitable donations. To find out how you can help or to

find out more about the services on offer

visit www.thehaven.org.uk or telephone 0113 284 7829.

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