Clan centres reopen to clients
Clan Cancer Support centres across the north-east and Northern Isles has reopened its doors to clients for the first time this week since closing on the 16th of March due to the Coronavirus outbreak with enhanced safety measures.
Clan's centres in Aberdeen, Inverurie, Elgin, Crimond, Shetland and Orkney will reopen on an appointment-only, part-time basis and clients are asked to book a slot through their website. The booking system will ensure compliance with social distancing and several measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of clients. Initial Clan will be offering emotional support and their children and family service to ensure those affected by a cancer diagnosis can seek the support they need.
Clients will be asked questions regarding COVID-19 symptoms when booking
an appointment and before entering the centre, enhanced cleaning measures have been put in place, and PPE will be provided to those entering the centre.
Iona Mitchell, Clan's Head of Cancer Support Services, said: “We are delighted to be reopening our doors this week to our clients. We have been hard at work introducing new safety measures to provide a safe environment for our clients.
“We made the tough decision to close our centres a week ahead of the initial lockdown started to ensure the safety of our clients and quickly pivoted our services to telephone and online support. Since the start of lockdown, we our team have provided 1,226 telephone support sessions, 424 counselling sessions, had over 1,000 visits to our online support centre and 511 support sessions for our children and families clients.”
While the online and telephone services have been a great source of support to those dealing with the uncertainty of a cancer diagnosis over the past few months, Clan has had significant demand from clients for face to face contact with their cancer support professionals.
“It has been an incredibly challenging time for people affected by cancer, whether it be the stress of the diagnosis or having to shield over the last few months, that is why we have been striving to get our centres back open as soon as it was safe to do so.
“We recognise how significant face to face contact is for our clients and, while we will continue to offer the telephone and online services, it is so important to offer in-person support. Face to face contact has always been at the heart of Clan's support model, and in these challenging times it is more important than ever for us to be here for people, and their loved ones, facing a cancer diagnosis.”
Clan is encouraging anyone who is facing a cancer diagnosis to book an appointment with their support team today by visiting www.clanhouse.org, emailing services@clanhouse.org or by calling on 01224 647000.
Clan's centres in Aberdeen, Inverurie, Elgin, Crimond, Shetland and Orkney are now open on the following days.
Clan Aberdeen– Tuesday and Wednesday - 9:30am to 4pm
Clan Elgin – Tuesday and Thursday - 10am to 4pm
Clan Crimond – Tuesday and Wednesday - 10am to 4pm
Clan Inverurie – Tuesday and Thursday - 10am to 4pm
Clan Shetland – Monday and Wednesday - 10am to 4pm
Clan Orkney - Monday and Tuesday - 10am to 4pm
All centres are open on an appointment basis, please email services@clanhouse.org to book your appointment or call your local CLAN centre.
