Cancer survivors at North Shields Fish Quay welcome innovative project that 'would have saved so many lives'

"When the fishing is good, you don't want to be taking time off."

For as long as there has been a fishing industry, those going out to sea have been hard to reach when it comes to vital healthcare. Now a pioneering partnership between charities Macmillan Cancer Support and the Fisherman's Mission has launched in North Shields to help bring cancer care to the fishermen - and therefore save lives and tackle inequality.

The C-Aware project formally launched last week but has been operating during 2024. It is a three-year pilot project designed to help design cancer services around the needs of the fishing community, raise cancer awareness and tackle myths and stigma. Three members of Macmillan staff will work with the Fisherman's Mission to run cancer focus groups, recruit cancer champions, and help provide cancer advice and support on the Fish Quay itself.

Read more: County Durham medical student found lump on her neck during a placement that turned out to be cancer

Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East with our free newsletter

The project will also see work with health services to better address the specific needs of a community where the nature of being out to sea means traditional healthcare appointments are not always fit for purpose. This will build on the Fisherman's Mission's SeaFit initiative - though North Shields is now the first place to pilot C-Aware.

Speaking at a launch event on the Fish Quay, retired fisherman and secretary of the Fisherman's Association Brian Chambers, who himself has seen his life touched by cancer in many ways, spoke of the difference this would make.

North Shields born-and-bred, Brian, 73, has lost both parents and numerous siblings to cancer, and survived bowel cancer twice himself. His family has the BRCA1 gene that almost always leads to cancer, and younger generations are now grappling with what that means, too.

He first went to sea at 16, though after nine of his best friends died in the Gaul fishing disaster in 1974, he couldn't face returning to a boat. He told ChronicleLive: "When I was young working down here and going out to sea, there was no such thing as seeing a doctor. There was no health and wellbeing, no health and safety.

"If we had had doctors and nurses down here in the '70s then lots of mates might have been treated earlier and lived another 25 years with their wives and families. If this works it will work anywhere. If we can get this to work here, it will save lives and work wonders."

The idea is to wrap cancer support around those who need it, and design services so that the unusual timescales and at-sea lifestyle of many fishermen doesn't mean they miss out on vital care or screening checks. It's also about tackling the stubbornness of North East men, in a male-dominated profession where an aversion to seeing the doctor has been passed down generation to generation.

Colin Graham, 42, is an active fisherman who has had his own brush with the disease. He said: "I have just had the all clear from cancer. It was a melanoma skin cancer. I was lucky to be a bit aware of getting checked out. My partner has had breast cancer herself four years ago, too.

"The problem is when the fishing is good, you don't want to be taking time off. It was only in a spell of bad weather that I got myself checked. I really think it's a great thing that Macmillan are doing with the Fisherman's Mission."

Tony Millin, a lobster fisherman based at North Shields too, highlighted how the nature of business made getting health check-ups less of a priority than it could be. He said: "When the conditions allow, I am out for 10 hours fishing in a day, often at short notice.

"A year ago, I requested a bowel cancer screening kit from my GP as I was experiencing abdominal discomfort. The tests came back clear and just knowing it wasn’t anything more serious than a muscular issue was a huge relief. Having a cancer awareness programme so near to the Fish Quay will be a major boon for a community that I know often doesn’t feel it has time to prioritise health."

Nik Hanlon, 37, is port manager at the Fish Quay. He is another new cancer champion. He said: "It is very important something is being done, fisherman don’t ask for help. The most effective help I have seen in terms of fisherman acting on their health is when help comes to them. Fishermen are totally dependent on the weather and the tides, needing to go to sea at short notice and the work takes priority over everything else."

Nik continued; "It's not like a normal job. We want to change things and make it better and easier to access support. The idea is to have services coming to the fishermen, coming to the quay. If we take it to the fishermen, we know they'll come."

Deb Johnstone is managing the C-Aware programme at the Fish Quay. She said: "We will be developing bespoke methods to engage with this community to remove stigmas and myths associated with cancer screening and diagnosis as well as pushing for relevant Information and signposting to aid in rebuilding connections to cancer community services and promoting cancer aftercare."

Tina Thompson and Andrea Love from Macmillan spoke about how the key was to build trust within the fishing community and to ensure that some of the systematic health issues and cancer presentations that fishermen experience can be dealth with.

They said it would be important to get health services working flexibly to serve the needs of the fishing community and Andrea added: "We have to be thinking about the circumstances of people here. When you're fit, you're at sea - and when you're not at sea you're not getting paid."

Highlighting how deprivation, health inequality and the particular health needs seen in the fishing community converge in North Shields, Fisherman's Mission chief executive Marc Evans said: "The Fishermen’s Mission has a long-standing relationship with the community of North Shields, we have been proud to be able to serve the active and former fishermen and their families for many decades. This new service is something that we are very pleased to offer."