World Cancer Day. 4th time round the sun

Hello world, happy world cancer day, I have been in this world trying to do my bit in the cancer space for nearly 5 years now. Whilst I have left the direct advocacy world, I have been spending most of my time trying to make the world that is around me (work better). This time, has hopefully given me some kind of perspective of the world I entered, were we are and were I think we could go which you hopefully will find interesting;

The world I entered;

So after being diagnosed at the age of 21, I entered the civil service at the 23. At that point in my life, I was having to balance having moved to London from Birmingham. I was trying to understand how you are meant to do the whole work thing( normal stuff if you are lucky enough to get a job coming out of university in your twenties). But on top of that I was having to plan my life around appointments every three months. How do I talk to my management about those appointments, but also how do I talk to new colleagues, friends etc about the role that Cancer has had in my life to this date.

What I had hoped and expected to find in the civil service, when it comes to Cancer is that surely this is the civil service their will be a network right? It is the center of the UK that sets inclusion legislation for the rest of country, surely their is an acknowledgement that Cancer exists right? I will be able to find other people in the Department, that I can talk to about everything that I was going through.

Instead I found nothing. Cancer impact 1 in 2 people in some capacity, and yet if you had been joining the civil service when I did you would have thought that Cancer was something that just existed in the outside world and gave civil servant a break. Now to be clear that is no reflection, on the many individual experiences of people for some unfortunate reason had to suffer in silence whilst they went through their cancer journey.

I was at my first Department, for just over a year a during that time we were able to make some progress at least at a local level in raising the awareness that cancer does exist. I worked with HR and another colleagues to at least formally establish a cancer network so we could ensure people know we exist.

I then went on to join my next Department second Department in just under 1 year and yet again any guess what I found? No network, no group no nothing. So for the second time, having been in the civil service less that two years I set about trying to work with HR to make sure that people recognized, that them and or their colleagues will be impacted by something the rest of population appreciated is an unfortunate part of every day life. Unfortunately something you realise, pretty quickly is that when you are a one ban band, who should also be doing the job he is paid to do, is that their is a limit to how much you can reasonably do. Also when you are a junior grade in a hierarchical system that also limits what you can achieve/ get people to respond to you emails. As such thanks to finding other colleagues, in the Department who liked myself couldn’t understand why the Department just didn’t seem to recognise that Cancer could impact their work force.

The world I find today;

The world I find today, has made such great progress from the world I entered and for that I am grateful. I am primarily grateful because I am glad that those who are entering this world, will have the opportunity to connect with colleagues, going through similar experiences in a way I never had that opportunity.

Many people along with me, can look back with some pride that whilst what we are doing you wont be able to see the benefit in “hard numbers”, we can know that we have at least created the right structures that we know we would have gained from during our times on/ going through treatment.

Where we could and should be going;

Whilst we have made good progress in making the structure that people can take advantage of. What there has been limited progress, is ensuring consistency in the experience of colleagues when they have to interact with “the system” when they begin and have to go through their cancer journey. We are doing fantastic work, with key charities like Macmillan Cancer Support, on expanding their amazing line management support programs across this now much broader network that I operate in.

It is only through ensuring we get consistency, in that experience no matter were you are in the world if you are working for the UK Government when you get that diagnosis we have left a system which makes your experience as easy as possible. As I get close to my 5 years in remission, I don’t know what my place will be in this world going forward, but if I have done my job correctly I will leave a system of support having joined when their was nothing.

So if I have one thing to say to you about how you treat people your colleagues in the work place it is just to be compassionate. Listen and help them to understand themselves how they are trying to go through their own journey :)