Live Well with Cancer Wins £15,000 for an Accessible Sensory Garden

A well-loved North Shields charity has landed a significant boost. Live Well with Cancer, which runs free support for people affected by a cancer diagnosis from its hub on Nile Street, has won a £15,000 grant to build an accessible sensory garden for the people who use its services.

A green space for rest and recovery

The award comes from the Certas Energy Community Bloom Fund, a national grant programme backing community green spaces. For Live Well with Cancer the money will transform outdoor space at the town-centre hub into a calm, accessible garden where visitors, families and carers can sit, take part in gentle activities and find a moment of quiet away from clinical settings.

That fits the charity's whole approach. Founded in 2019 by former clinical nurse specialist Maureen Elliott, Live Well with Cancer offers support groups, creative and movement sessions, one-to-one help and complementary therapies, all free, to hundreds of people each year. A garden designed to be reachable and usable by everyone, whatever their mobility, extends that welcome outdoors.

Best for: Live Well with Cancer runs from its hub at 38 Nile Street, North Shields, NE29 0BB, a short walk from the Beacon Centre and the Metro. Its groups and therapies are free to anyone living with or beyond cancer, and to their families and carers.

Local support that keeps growing

For a small, independent charity, a five-figure grant is the kind of win that changes what it can offer. The sensory garden will give North Shields another genuinely local resource for wellbeing, built around a charity that has become a fixture of the town in just a few years.

You can find out more about the charity's work, or how to support it, on the Live Well with Cancer website.