The chairs are being packed away and coats slipped on at the Keith Cancer Link when I’m approached by an earnest-looking man.
He thanks me for coming to the support session we’ve just sat through, and then launches into a story.
“The past few weeks have been really tough,” he says with a sigh. “My uncle went to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.”
Dignitas is where people with terminal illnesses can legally end their lives. This is some story, I think.
“Yes,” the man continues, his voice softening. “It was very sad. Not least what they gave him for breakfast on his last day.”
Wait, what? Breakfast? I’m confused.
The man looks me square in the eye. I see a faint glint in his.
“A bowl of Cheerios,” he deadpans. Then he laughs.
What is Keith Cancer Link and why is it special?
This was my first visit to a cancer support group. I must admit I didn’t expect to hear quite so many jokes.
But then Keith Cancer Link is not your average cancer support group.
With sessions on the third Thursday of every month, the group meets in the back hall of the Royal British Legion, just opposite Keith FC’s Kynoch Park.
Amazingly, these meetings have been going on – a Covid-19 hiatus notwithstanding – for 40 years, making it one of the longest running cancer support groups in Scotland.
The first was held in March 1983, just three years after a similar service started at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow that would eventually became Cancer Support Scotland. UK-wide cancer charity Maggie’s wouldn’t start operations until 1996.
But Keith Cancer Link is different still. Because no other cancer support group has Adeline Reid.
Why did Adeline Reid start Keith Cancer Link 40 years ago?
Adeline, a former midwife and district nurse from Portessie near Buckie, founded Keith Cancer Link after witnessing first-hand the dearth of support for cancer patients and their families.
Today, after four decades of helping hundreds of people cope with the trauma and aftermath of a cancer diagnosis, and receiving an MBE for her work, Adeline is still very much in charge.
Aided by a three-strong committee of volunteers, she chairs the meetings and organises the charity events. She even met Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her services to cancer charity.
Her home in Keith is the main office, headquarters and vibrant hub of Keith Cancer Link.
Meanwhile, Adeline’s distinct personality runs through the support group’s core.
Watching her chair a session, as I did on a recent Thursday evening, is like watching a compassionate head teacher preside over a classroom of boisterous pupils.
When Adeline met cheeky Liverpool lad John Lennon
In her purple Keith Cancer Link jumper and looking like a favourite aunt (“Och, I look like an old mannie,” she complains when I show her the photos I’ve taken) Adeline sits at the apex of a circle of chairs and orchestrates the meeting with a mix of authority and a lifetime of empathy.
Blended in there too is her own battle with disease.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago, an experience she says gave her a deeper understanding of what those in her charge are going through.
Finally, there is her sense of humour.
Best described as desert-dry, I’m subjected to it as soon as I meet her. She shows me her arm, still in a sling after she it broke six months ago in an unfortunate incident at a funeral.
“It was so windy we couldn’t get the hearse door closed,” she says a light trill, like she’s reading a story to a young child. “I had a quilted jacket on, and I just went whooosh!”
Later, Adeline tells me about the time she met The Beatles. It was 1963, and the pre-fame Liverpudlians were playing the Two Red Shoes Ballroom in Elgin, where Adeline was training as a nurse. John Lennon shouted out a window to her as she walked past in full uniform: “Would you like to take my pulse?”
“I would never have done it back then,” Adeline says. “But now I wish I had.”
Adeline’s struggle to start Keith Cancer Link
Adeline was a district nurse in Keith when she set up Cancer Link. A close relative’s death from cancer made it clear there was a need for patient and family support.
As Adeline says, this was back when cancer was something people didn’t talk about, especially in rural communities. Starting up the group was Adeline’s way of changing that.
It was a struggle at first. She says medical professionals in the area pushed back against the idea. According to them, handing a cancer patient a booklet about the disease was more than enough support.
For Adeline, however, “if you’re lying in a bed dying of cancer, the last thing you want to do is read a booklet”.
Why Keith Cancer Link is so important to its members
Over the years, other groups started up in nearby towns – Buckie, Elgin and Huntly for example. The idea was to create a Banffshire network, with Keith at the core.
But those other groups almost all faded away, leaving Keith Cancer Link, and Adeline.
Which is why when Adeline gets the meeting started on that recent Thursday evening with a round of introductions, people shout out a variety of hometowns.
Some of the 25 or so attendees are from Keith but there are a few from Buckie, Newmill and surrounding towns.
Adeline begins the session with some business; mentions of a few charity donations that are the lifeblood of the entirely voluntary Keith Cancer Link including £660 from local takeaway The Bengal Spice.
She also reminds everyone that what is said in the group goes no further than the circle of chairs, which is why this article does not identify anyone by name except Adeline and her committee members.
Adeline allows me to ask a question, so I get people to give me their recollections of their first time coming to the group.
A few talk about how scared they were before coming in, and the warmth they found from Adeline and the other members.
An older man talks movingly about the loneliness of cancer, and how being part of Keith Cancer Link helped him combat it.
“You’re just lost because you nae ken what road you’re going doon,” he says. “Everybody says they ken how you feel, but no they dinnae. Naebday’s got a clue.”
A helping hand, and friendly face, on way to radiotherapy
One of the core aspects of Keith Cancer Link is the transport it provides.
With appointments for chemo or radiation therapy often in Aberdeen, the group’s fleet of voluntary drivers is vital for members who don’t have any other way to travel.
The drivers also provide continuity, and a friendly face on a journey few people look forward to taking – one that more often that not ends in a chemo or radiotherapy ward.
“My first driver for my radiotherapy was a nice young guy,” Chris Viney tells the group. Chris is one of Keith Cancer Link’s committee members, a Liverpudlian who moved to Keith decades ago, but retains her soft Liverpool accent.
“He obviously knew I was very nervous about this first dose of radiotherapy, so he tells me where to go and to follow the signs for radiotherapy.
“So I gave my name and sat down, and as you do you look at your shoes.” There is a ripple of knowing laughter at this. Most people in the hall know exactly what Chris means.
She continues: “As I sat there looking at the floor, I could see another pair of shoes come and stand in front of me. And when I looked up it was the driver. He came and sat next to me and told me everything would be fine.”
Laughter amid the seriousness
People share more stories, with Adeline gently encouraging them. There’s a young woman diagnosed in September 2020 with stage four cancer and a 13-centimetre tumour, but who was recently given notice she has no detectable active disease.
Adeline chips in: “It’s amazing how much more doctors are able to do these days compared to before.”
Another woman reveals she’s been told she needs more chemotherapy. There is first an outpouring of concern. Then the jokes start.
“It’s because you’re so good at it,” someone says with a big smile.
“Stop being greedy!” another person laughs. “There’ll be none left for the rest of us.”
A joke to end it all
The session is almost at an end. There is a quick chat about the costs of private care (“I’ll just go to the vet,” someone quips) before Adeline rounds the evening off by reminding everyone she is available to anyone that wants to talk.
It is a timely reminder about the serious work that Adeline does. One that comes just as I’m about to be approached by a man with a Cheerios joke.
More details about Keith Cancer Link and its monthly meetings can be found here.