We are so proud to be supporting Sam’s Diamonds with products for their chemo bags that they give to their ladies undergoing treatment.
To learn more about this fantastic charity we interviewed Chloe, Outreach Officer at Sam's Diamonds, to find out about the amazing work they do.
For those that don’t know, could you tell us what Sam’s Diamonds is and the kind of work you do as a charity?
Yeah, of course, so Sam's Diamonds, we're a cancer support charity, a support group. We do loads of different fun things. So basically, our founder found that when she had cancer, she didn't find a group that she connected with, maybe a positive group of people she could relate to. So that's why she ended up creating a charity. Sam Diamond's is a place where women can uplift each other. We do, honestly, so many things. We do coffee clubs, we do some skydives, and all sorts of things. It's just a nice environment for women to be able to talk, to connect, but also have that positivity. Cancer is a very scary thing, so to be able to talk to people you can relate to, but also have a bit of fun whilst going through these hard times. That's what we're all about.
Amazing. And where are you based?
So based in Halton, but we do work with the chemo banks across the Northwest. We work with different hospitals and plan to expand to different places in Liverpool and hopefully everywhere in the UK.
And how many members do you have?
We support over 300 ladies at the moment. We also run a Facebook support group so people from across the country can speak and have that positive group that all the ladies can talk to about what they're going through.
Do you work with ladies that have certain types of cancer or any diagnosis?
Absolutely any diagnosis, any type of cancer. Throughout the whole journey, and even afterwards, because sometimes with cancer people think that once you've beaten cancer, that it's fine, but then it can be the time where a lot of people find it hard, like what do I do now?
And what do you find are some of the most common struggles for ladies with a cancer diagnosis?
Often it can be things to do with work. A lot of ladies find it hard to not work. Because a lot of ladies can't work when they have cancer, so they miss work. Also, just finding people to relate to. There are other places where you can go, but it's quite scary sitting in a clinic and being passed booklets and not really understanding all the jargon that's given to you.
Do you have any advice for friends or family who want to support people with cancer, but are a bit unsure on how to ?
Yeah, families and friends can reach out to us too. We do support groups for families as well because we do understand that it can be hard for the family members as well. It's just being a place to talk and having that open mind, giving them a place to speak to and someone speak to. They can come along to our events as well and help support them to find out more about cancer and the things that we do.
So how can people support Sam’s Diamonds?
So, we do all sorts of events for people if they want to be involved and they can come along, and we usually ask for a small donation. We also have stuff on our Instagram and Facebook page. If you want to get involved, you can join into the group.
We're excited to be supporting you guys by donating our skincare products to the chemo bags. Could you tell us a little bit more about that scheme and how you're supporting ladies?
So, with the chemo bags, it's a really hard thing to go through chemotherapy, so our chemo bag is just a little nice thing for ladies to open. A little pamper. It’s important to take care of your mental health as well as your body when you’re going through a hard time.
What kind of products are in there?
All types of things from colouring books to skincare products. We’ve included our newsletter as well, which has different things in like word searches, puzzles, and healthcare bingo. Just little things to keep your mind occupied whilst going through chemo.
With skincare we must be quite selective as a lot of skincare products have fragrances in which can be reactive and so the fact that Dr.Lipp doesn’t have any allergens or fragrances and is super hydrating is amazing.
Because Dr Lipp products are so multi-purpose and natural it's the perfect thing to have in a chemo bag. Products I can take with me but aren’t filling up a whole bag because they do everything I need.
We wanted to say a big thank you to Sam’s Diamonds for the work they do supporting women going through cancer. We are thrilled to have been able to donate 100 of our travel packs to them.
If you would like to find out more about Sam’s Diamonds, please visit their website.
