Chai Cancer Care – ‘A model of Community-based support’

Last Wednesday, Chai Cancer Care was described as “a model of community-based support” for cancer patients and their loved ones impacted by a cancer diagnosis.

24 MPs from five political parties attended a Chai drop-in session at the Houses of Parliament, organised by the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) and hosted by Nicola Richards, the Conservative MP for West Bromwich East. 

Chai Chairman, Louise Hager, said: “For us, it was an opportunity to highlight the breadth and range of our services and demonstrate best practice. It was so encouraging that Nicola Richards described Chai as a ‘blueprint for cancer care’, confirming our reputation as a leader and innovator in this field.”

Coinciding with the day that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the general election, Louise described the popularity of the drop-in, as “testament to what we do. For the Jewish community to be able to showcase our work to the wider community is part of our remit. The MPs were interested to hear about our work with organisations such as Marie Curie Cancer Care and The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and that we would be very happy to share our expertise with any existing cancer support organisations in their constituencies, or with people who were planning on starting one.”

Chai’s CEO, Lisa Steele informed the MPs of how Chai, together with Jnetics, has been instrumental in raising awareness of the groundbreaking ‘Jewish Community’s NHS BRCA Testing Programme’. Lisa said: “To date over 20,000 people have expressed interest in being tested and the NHS hope to use lessons from this pilot scheme to help identify other genetic predispositions in different cohorts in the UK.”

Posting on X/Twitter afterwards, Nicola Richards MP wrote: “Great to host @ChaiCancerCare with @JLC_UK in Parliament today for colleagues cross party to hear about the wonderful work they do, supporting the Jewish Community with cancer services and palliative care across the country. They have developed a blueprint for how best to support everyone affected, including family members.”

Russell Langer, director of public affairs at the JLC, said: “We are pleased to amplify and magnify the work of our members by arranging regular drop-ins in Parliament. We thank the 24 MPs from five parties who were able to come and meet the Chai team, especially on such a dramatic day in Westminster.”

Chai is currently supporting just over 4,300 cancer patients and their loved ones, aged 3 to 98, from 11 centres across the UK.