Three years after it opened, the Holistic Cancer Care Centre, in the grounds of James Cook University Hospital on Teesside is a victim of its own success. Health Editor Barry Nelson paid a visit.

Colette Mills gets a little tearful when she talks about how much the Holistic Cancer Care Centre at The James Cook University Hospital means to her.

The 57-year-old Dubliner, who has lived so long in the North-East that there is hardly a trace of her Irish brogue, has been visiting the centre for two years.

Colette has been fighting breast cancer for more than a quarter of a century, but in the last couple of years her illness has become more advanced.

This means the fiesty mother-of-two has made more and more visits to the centre, a unique place which offers a quiet refuge for cancer patients and access to free complementary therapies just 100 yards from the hospital's busy radiotherapy unit.

The centre was opened by renowned designer Stella McCartney more than three years ago.

Paid for by a volunteer fundraising committee - which managed to raise a staggering £1m to cover construction costs - the circular Holistic Cancer Care Centre is now so over-subscribed that the largely volunteer staff who run the centre need more space.

Ideally the centre needs to attract support from North-East businesses - or a philanthropist with the odd hundred thousand pounds to spare.

Showing me around the atmospheric centre, flanked by its acting manager, the aptly-named Heather Goodwill, Colette explains why she feels so strongly about it and why she desperately wants more people to get behind it.

Standing directly under the centre's circular glass atrium and surveying the unusual and light-filled central hall, Colette, who lives in Hutton Rudby in North Yorkshire, sums it all up.

"This is a spiritual place."

With muted, ambient piano music tinkling softly in the background, Colette describes how the centre has almost become a home from home.

When she has had grim news from her consultant, Colette has been able to seek solace and support in the centre.

And for more than two years, shesays the centre's staff have never let her down.

"You are frightened enough when you have got a diagnosis of cancer, but when you come in here there is something in the atmosphere that puts you at your ease," she says.

The first time she crossed the threshold she was in inner turmoil after being told that her condition had taken a turn for the worse.

"I walked in here in a state and somebody made me a cup of tea and made me feel welcome. After a while I felt absolutely safe and I was able to pull myself together sufficiently to go and tell the rest of the family the bad news," says Colette.

After an initial visit, where the empathy of staff impressed her, Colette has been a regular visitor, combining visits to the adjoining hospital for treatment with complementary therapy sessions.

With a wide range to chose from, Colette has tried most of them.

"My first therapy was reflexology. It was the first thing I wanted because I knew it worked for me. It was something that helped me cope with the distress I was feeling," she says.

In the midst of a gruelling course of chemotherapy, Colette was prescribed homeopathic remedies which helped her cope with some of the toxic side-effects.

When she started to lose her hair, she returned to the centre to be given advice by volunteers from Headstrong, a breast cancer care initiative which does advice sessions at the centre.

"They had a fantastic selection of hats and also showed me how to tie scarves. They fitted me up with a lovely golden turban which made me feel glamorous."

Colette also visited the centre's medically qualified Chinese acupuncturist for pain relief, which she found very effective. "I also came to the Reiki session, which was great for spiritual healing and relaxation and I also enjoyed the Tai Chi sessions which the centre organises. It is also very spiritual and helps you clear your mind."

As a regular visitor, Colette has become very familiar with the therapists who run the sessions and the volunteers who run the welcome desk.

But most of all, she has become firm friends with Heather Goodwill, acting manager at the centre.

It is through her close links with Heather that Colette has become concerned about the need to expand the centre's services.

She has seen the centre's ability to meet demand stretched to the limit and wants to raise awareness about its contribution to the broader aspects of cancer care.

"People who know me know the positive effect this place has had on me and my family, but there is a limit to how much a small circle of people can raise by just organising coffee mornings."

Colette would dearly love to see local businesses get involved in sponsorship or a 'sugar daddy' donor wading in with a fat cheque.

"You have to ask how much the community gains from the support this centre provides. It means that people are able to go back to their families, their communities and even go back to work earlier," says Colette.

"I know from experience that when I cope better my husband copes better."

Heather is proud of her team of volunteers and therapists but is frustrated that there is unmet need because of a lack of resources.

"We need to raise £120,000 a year just to run the centre at the current level of services. That's about £10,000 a month and there is a limit to how much you can raise from coffee mornings," says Heather.

"If we had more money coming in we would love to expand our services."

The centre sees around 150 patients a week, but that is only people receiving therapy, many more people come in informally needing emotional and personal support.

Heather, who is doing a sponsored walk along Hadrian's Wall next month followed by a fundraising walk on hot coals, was a radiotherapist for 20 years before getting involved in after-care.

"We do need to grow, but we can't without the extra funds. A man walked in the other morning and he was given an appointment to come back in an hour and a half. That was an emergency, but the average wait for an appointment to see someone is three to four weeks."

Heather feels that the range of free therapies provided at the centre has a significant and under-rated impact on patient welfare.

"National guidelines state that if you have a cancer diagnosis you should have access to a centre like this, providing psychosocial support.

"We use a system of self-assessment and we find that after six days of therapy people feel much better and their concerns are reduced. That has an impact on the patient's quality of life and on their loved ones," she adds.

Colette is certainly a fan: "They are like family to me. It is like a kid that falls off their bike and runs home to their mum.

"Coming here is like that."