Sharon Griffiths Meets...

The new building has cost £500,000 and will treat patients from Teesside, North Yorkshire and South Durham. It's taken another £200,000 to equip it. And everything, the building itself and absolutely everything inside it - from the electrically-operated couches at £1,800, massage chairs at £600, towels, tables, essential oils, the fridge, the kettles and even the coat hooks at 28p each - has been paid for by volunteers.

Every single brick and piece of equipment represents a coffee morning, a raffle, fashion show, football match, even a clairvoyance evening, or some such event and a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication.

At times, it seemed as though it would never happen. The idea was born back in 1989 when radiographers at the old North Ormesby Hospital went to a talk about how aromatherapy could help cancer patients.

"Aromatherapy was still fairly new at the time," says Sue Stephenson, one of those radiographers, and now the centre manager, "but many of us felt that we were concentrating too much on treating the cancer rather than the patient and aromatherapy seemed worth trying."

Increasingly, cancer experts feel that as treatments get more advanced and high tech, we should come back spending more time concentrating on the person. Complementary therapies have an important part to play in relaxation, boosting self-esteem, helping people cope with the complex emotions of serious illness.

"One of our first patients in those very early days was a woman on our ward for whom nothing more could be done and it was all very distressing," says Sue.

"An aromatherapist came in and offered her a gentle foot massage and the difference was remarkable. She felt calmer, more relaxed. It couldn't halt the disease, but it made a real difference to her and to her family.

"We always say that it's not a case of suffering with cancer but living with it. Many people are able to get back to normal living, and complementary therapies can help in many ways."

They always wanted the complementary therapies to be part of the mainstream, to be integrated into the hospital services, and were determined that they should be free to all patients. They started offering therapies in the department - by then moved to South Cleveland - and were soon convinced of their importance in the broader treatment plan. They knew, too, that to do it properly they should have a separate purpose-built building.

And now they have it - an interesting sort of round house to the left of the main hospital. It is calm and peaceful, with comfortable, well-lit treatment rooms that are absolutely nothing like a hospital examination room. There's a library of reference books, rooms for meetings and seminars and everything opens onto a central area where on Sunday friends and supporters gathered to decorate a Christmas tree.

Among them were people like Angela Duffy. Back in February, 1994, Angela's then partner Jonathan Hunt, always known as Bunty, died of testicular cancer at the age of 31.

"He'd loved life, been a great football fan, so his friends decided straightaway to have a football match and raise some money for charity in his memory."

Every Good Friday the Brunton Arms at Nunthorpe in Middlesbrough puts on a match. "Originally it was under 25s against over 25s but everyone's older now and it's all got confused, but it doesn't matter a bit.

"After the match, played at Acklam, every one goes back to the pub. It gets absolutely chokker, from kids to grandparents - some of the kids have grown up with the match, been to every one - and we have raffles and all sorts. The people from the Gilzean Sports Bar in town do a lot too. It's all a bit of fun, but it's still going strong."

Next Good Friday will be the tenth Bunty Memorial Fund football match and so far, Angela reckons they've raised around £20,000 for the Holistic Cancer Care Project.

"Lots of people were very upset when Bunty died so young. But this is a good way of remembering him."

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, otherwise known as Arthur Foreman and three line dancing couples, also known as The Holistics, Alan and Rita Metcalfe, Dave and Mage Glazebrook and Eric and Rita Griffiths, who between them have raised an amazing £60,000 for the centre.

Arthur, 76, was a technician in the medical physics department at South Cleveland. "Then when I retired I wanted to do a good turn for the hospital."

A keen dancer himself his thoughts turned to line dancing - at the time the newest dance craze. He approached the Dorman Social Club in Oxford Road, Middlesbrough who gave him the use of the club free for one night a week, every week. Then he met dancers Rita, Nita and Madge who volunteered their services to teach the steps.

Rita was particularly keen to help as her daughter was being treated for cancer at South Cleveland at the time.

And it all just took off.

"We have a line dancing session every week, with a raffle as well and it raises about £150 every week," says Arthur, who no longer dances himself, "but I've got the gear and the hat."

Amazingly, as well as the £60,000 they've raised for the Holistic Cancer Care Project, they've also raised large sums for other cancer charities.

LAURA ASHURST and her twin sister, actress Liz Carling - in breaks between Liz's TV commitments - have done all sorts of fund raising events, from a strawberry tea to a big colour spread in OK! Magazine to help raise funds and spread the word.

It's partly a thank you for the treatment Laura received when she had cancer last year as she knows first hand what a difference it can make.

Laura, 34 and mother of two young children, is an aromatherapist and development manager in the department of Health and Care at Hartlepool College. But last year she was a patient at the James Cook University Hospital when she developed breast cancer and underwent a five week radiotherapy course.

"In the waiting room I picked up a leaflet about the complementary therapies and decided to try reiki and had a six week treatment.

"One of the side effects of radiotherapy is extreme tiredness but after each weekly reiki treatment I felt I'd been in a deep sleep and woke up refreshed and energised. The project and the therapies look after you emotionally. It's also something nice to look forward to. I know from my own experience how much difference it makes which is why we're so keen to help."

Last week Laura had another fund raising event in her home "selling Christmas cards and things" and Liz hopes to help when she can but is currently based in Bristol where she's filming Casualty.

Laura's treatment was successful and she's back at work. As a result of her experiences, students on her Diploma of Clinical Practice for Complementary Therapists now do part of the work experience at the unit and they are discussing the possibility of a foundation degree with the University of Teesside.

IT'S nearly a year now since Steph-anie Pattinson of Darlington, one of the country's top florists and mother of two young children, died at the age of 41. She had been treated at South Cleveland and husband Stephen has become a keen supporter of the Holistic Cancer Care Project.

"Steph had various complementary therapies and I know they gave her a boost. The care she received in Middlesbrough was so fantastic that I just wanted to do all I could to support them. When we were going there it was still at the "Buy a Brick" stage, so it's great to see it's got this far.

Earlier this year he entered the RHS Flower Show at Chelsea in Steph's memory, and has sponsored th e HCCP website. He's even taking to the water in a sponsored diving competition.

Staff in the two shops - Richardsons at Barnard Castle and Direct Flowers in Darlington have also been inspired. Dorothy Halford from the Darlington shop organised a sponsored darts marathon at Gilling West near Richmond in the summer - 12 hours, 7,674 arrows with a total score of 97,161. And nearly £700 for the appeal.

Denise Spooner of the Barnard Castle shop did the Great North Run with her cousin. She's just got all the sponsorship money in and is about to hand over a cheque for £900.

"The hospital staff didn't just look after Steph, they looked after the family as well. It's just our way of saying thank you."

Although the centre is now ready to open, it still receives no official funding from anywhere, so the demand for money is as great as ever.

It will take around £120,000 a year to run it. "And ideally we'd like to be able to take treatment out to people in our area, to Northallerton, down to Whitby, across to Bishop Auckland, who are too ill to come to us but who can still benefit from the treatments," says Sue Stephenson.

Until the centre opened, around a thousand patients a year have access to complementary therapies, which is only about ten per cent of those who might benefit from it. The opening of the centre means that more therapists will be able to give more treatments to more patients in much more pleasant surroundings.

"Not everyone will want it, but we want to be able to offer it to all those who do," says fundraiser Sally Lyons, appointed last year to co-ordinate and promote the massive charitable efforts. "Above all, we want it to remain free of charge without any pressure on people to feel they have to pay."

As well as all that line dancing, darts playing and fund raising, Sally is hoping to get sponsorship - persuading businesses to sponsor a course of six weekly treatments for someone who can benefit.

One day, the centre might receive some sort of official funding. But so far it is succeeding entirely thanks to all the hard work and effort of hundreds of volunteers.

And if you have ever helped in any way, a lot of grateful patients would like to say "Thank you. You've made a difference".

The Holistic Cancer Care Project, The James Cook University Hospital, Marton Road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3BW. Tel; 01642 854839. www.hccp.org.uk.