Cancer Support Group

Illness isolates,
words bring people together

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Our mission is to help, provide support and relevant information on cancer to whoever needs it.
We are a group of European Commission staff and former staff who have experienced cancer at ­first hand as cancer patients or because someone close to us has suffered from cancer. We are all volunteers working in co-operation with DG HR C1 (Social Welfare Policy and Actions Unit) and the Medical Service.

You can talk to us at any time. We are available to:

• Talk to you, your family and friends when times are difficult and provide you with information and advice;
• Help you understand your diagnosis and put you in touch with people who have been through a similar experience;
• Accompany you through the convalescence and treatment;
• Support you going back to the office after a long sick leave.

Our volunteers also accompany patients (on request) to the clinic and support them during the convalescence. If needed we can help book medical appointments or for a second opinion.
We offer wellbeing workshops and organise conferences. You can find more information about our activities in the events section.

Who we are…

The Cancer Support Group (CSG) means a bunch of dedicated active and retired colleagues who are ready to help.  Most of us have experienced cancer at ­first hand as patients or as caregivers to someone close to us suffering from cancer. We are all volunteers but we work in co-operation with DG HR, the Medical Service and PMO.

Should you need us, you can always find somebody at the end of the line on the CSG hotline (ext. 80741) during working hours or by email at cancer-support@ec.europa.eu.

Like many doctors, our group is fi­rmly convinced that the human dimension is of vital importance in the treatment of cancer and this is where we come in.

Our aim is to provide colleagues or their families facing cancer with emotional and/or practical support in a confidential and respectful manner. We can help you find answers to questions of which some might be more sensitive or difficult than others. We can for instance, help you cope with the shock of diagnosis, support you during treatment (if needed, we can help book medical appointments or for a second opinion, help you to find volunteers to accompany patients to the clinic and support you during the convalescence) on return to work ( we can support you with the administrative procedures for reimbursement, recognition of a serious illness…) or on taking invalidity.

But first of all we are someone to talk to when times are difficult, or support you go back to the office after a long sick leave (see our coaching options). We offer wellbeing workshops, organise conferences, guide you in the exploration of new ways of exploring your emotions and reality: creative dance, kundalini yoga, ludic & creative activities, family yoga – check our events page for future activities.

Our activities are financed by a small subsidy received from the European Commission (4000 euros in 2017) and donations, fundraising activities like cake sales, books/CD/DVD sales that allow us to offer our activities free of charge to our members and to colleagues in the European institutions in general.

Do you have a question? Do you need us? Do you want to become a member and/or volunteer for our activities? Email us and we’ll explain how to proceed.

You can also contact us on this number: +32 2 29 80741

Useful information

Support

We have active members in all DGs who are ready to help you at any time to cope with the anxiety and provide specifi­c information. We also put our experience at the service of the hierarchy and we can provide advice about how best to communicate with a colleague suffering from cancer, organisational measures or how to explain the situation to the rest of the team.

Join us

If you have had direct experience of cancer and would like to help your colleagues who are faced with the same challenge, you can help us. We meet regularly to draw up new projects and help as many colleagues as possible. If you wish to join us or attend one of our next meetings, contact us on CANCER-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu 

Events

Newsletter

Do you want to stay informed about the CSG’s activities?

Sign up for the CSG newsletter and you will receive regular updates on CSG events, useful information, publications and more.

Click here to subscribe.

Contact

You can contact us anytime via e-mail or phone.
We will try to respond as soon as possible.

Email:  CANCER-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu

Telephone:  +32 2 29 80741