£3m appeal launched for therapy centre

Facilities at the existing Odyssey Centre, which has provided complementary therapies for hundreds of patients since being launched 14 years ago, can no longer meet demand and staff at the charity want to build a new one.

Plans have been drawn up for an ecologically built centre designed to encourage patients’ recovery and have as little impact as possible on the tranquil setting around it.

The project’s co-founders, Daisa and Richard Morgan and Tom Hazeldine, are hoping people on both sides of the Humber will back the appeal.

Mrs Morgan decided to establish the centre after being frustrated by the support available for her mother, Margaret Harrison, who died in 1982 from a rare form of lung cancer.

She said: “The Odyssey Centre provides a relaxed haven where clients can discuss their experiences of cancer on all levels – physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Our services have also been available to almost 300 primary carers as a cancer diagnosis usually involves the whole family and, in addition, we offer support to health professionals.

“We have a holistic approach whether it is in the form of hands-on therapies, or listening and providing information and, if appropriate, we liaise with family doctors, nurses or oncologists.

“In the beginning, we never anticipated that our services would be in such demand. People have been referred or come to us from a radius of 60 miles. It’s become clear that we need more rooms and therapists to meet local need and for the centre to be everything we’ve worked towards.”

The centre has helped more than 500 patients and more than 300 carers have used its services. For details on the centre and the fundraising effort call (01652) 633150.