About Cancer Relief
Your local cancer charity and community hospice service.
Cancer Relief Gibraltar is your local cancer and community hospice care charity.
We have been providing specialist care and support to the Gibraltar community for over 40 years. Our clinical nursing services and holistic therapies are available free to anyone affected by cancer and are provided both onsite at our Cancer Relief Centre or in the community.
We recognise that a diagnosis of cancer or living with a life limiting illness can be a life-changing event and we are here to help you through it. Our services are intended to support you and your family in whatever way you need and place emphasis on living well with your illness. At the Cancer Relief Centre, you will find a warm, welcoming environment where you can meet with one of our specialist nurses and talk you through all your needs or questions. They will explain to you the different types of clinical and non-clinical support, holistic therapies, and complementary treatments available to you, your family, and those people important to you.
For general advice or to discuss referrals to Cancer Relief Gibraltar, please call:
The Gibraltar Society for Cancer Relief
The Gibraltar Society for Cancer Relief, registered under the Friendly Societies ordinance as Charity Number 38, was formed in 1983 by Lady Williams, wife of the then Governor Admiral Sir David Williams together with a team of health professionals and community leaders.
The committee originally intended to open an inpatient hospice unit for people with advanced cancer, however following many discussions it was decided that a community palliative care service with a focus on supporting patients in their own home was the best approach. Mary Dolding became the first Cancer Relief hospice nurse following undertaking specialist training in the U.K.
A year later the committee opened a day support service ran out of Transport House thanks to the support ofthe Transport & General Workers’ Union. Maureen Stansfield, one ofthe charity’s founders and herself a nurse with hospice experience ran this service supported by a group of volunteers. It operated twice a week providing refreshments, occupational therapy and hand care.
In 1990, this service moved to Devil’s Tower Road, and became known as the Lady Williams Cancer Support Centre. The move meant the charity could offer additional services such as personal care, aromatherapy massage, loan of nursing equipment for patients to use in their homes and grants for financial hardship. Over the following years a cancer support group and a Hospice at Home nursing service were established. In 1998 the first St Bernard’s Hospital palliative care nurse was sponsored by the charity and following this, four additional Gibraltar Health Authority nurses went to the U.K to complete specialist training in caring for people with terminal illness.
The Lady Williams Centre provided day support services for 28 years. However, the fabric of the building deteriorated considerably over the years and in 2011 the Government of Gibraltar kindly gifted the charity a beautiful colonial building in South Barrack Road now known as the Cancer Relief Centre. Moving to the new premises allowed the Cancer Relief to expand and grow into the wonderful Charity it is today.
Our Mission
To be Gibraltar’s model of excellence for community cancer support and hospice care; through service innovation, specialist care provision, education, collaborative working partnerships, community engagement and empowerment. We support people in our community who have a diagnosis of cancer or are living with a life limiting diagnosis identify their and their families individual care needs. Our goal is to provide you with support and assistance for you to live well during your healthcare journey and to help you cope with the challenge’s cancer or a life limiting diagnosis can bring.
Our Vision
To focus on patients and families first, providing them with advice, offering support and respecting their decisions regarding their care needs.
Empower people to contribute to their own well-being by providing a range of clinical and holistic services that are flexible and accessible to support peoples physical, social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs.
To ensure our services are accessible and available to all our multifaceted community.
Support those living with a life limiting illness to live their life in their place of choice with comfort and dignity. Helping them to enhance or maintain and their quality of life by providing best practice in service provision on delivery.
Provide bereavement support for those who need it.
Collaborate with other health care professionals and advisors to make positive contribution for the development of cancer services and palliative care services in Gibraltar.
Our Values
To provide the highest quality compassionate care delivered by health care professionals with specialist knowledge, skills, and expertise. We celebrate shared working partnerships to provide the best possible care options for our community.
We work to provide a home-from-home environment, where people can be themselves with services that are individually personalised to their needs.
Our charity status allows us to be innovative, reactive, and flexible to our community’s needs.
We strive to recognise and nurture the contribution of our staff, both paid and voluntary, empowering decision making, sharing our knowledge and skills through education, audit, and research.
Legal Information
The Gibraltar Society for Cancer Relief was first registered as a charity with the Charity Commission under the Friendly Societies Act (registered charity number 38) on 23rd May 1983. In 2017 Cancer Relief registered as a company limited by guarantee with the Registrar of Companies in Gibraltar. Registered company number 106292. We still retain our Registered Charity number 38.
Charity operations are managed by our CEO and administered by seven directors, who are also trustees. The Charity Board of Trustees meets monthly together with the CEO to establish and monitor strategy, finances, operational processes, and to ensure that the charity runs in a legal and compliant way to best conform to the established purposes and goals.
Financial Statements
To view our reports, please click the links below. If you would like to request a hard copy, please contact us.