New magazine by and for cancer community launched

Flourish Magazine is a joint venture between integrative cancer care charity Yes to Life and creative health charity Artlift and funded by National Lottery Awards for All, aiming to explore the benefits of an integrative and creative approach to living with cancer. It features a range of creative responses, expert information and interviews in each themed edition that offer support and represent the diversity of the cancer community.

This is a project I've been working on for many months after being inspired by Cancer Hive's magazines - it has been great to work with Artlift - and we are now working on the second issue - do download a copy of the first to see how you can submit something or click here.

The first issue of Flourish Magazine features a range of creative submissions, features and interviews around the theme of ‘Nourish’ - with several Stroud folk getting entries.

Download Flourish at: https://yestolife.org.uk/news/launch-of-the-new-flourish-magazine-2/

The magazine is created with the support of a steering group that includes people living with cancer and partners Macmillan, Macmillan Next Steps and Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. We will have a few print copies available across Gloucestershire - probably too few as we are already getting requests.

Our Creative Editor

Before finishing this news item I wanted to celebrate Natalie Beech, our Creative Editor of the magazine. Natalie has gone more than the extra mile to develop this project. I have loved how she has navigated sensitive issues and challenges and brought heaps of energy and creativity to this project. Here's what she wrote:

"When I began work on the magazine, it was clear to me that there is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to cancer and that it was important the content of the magazine reflected this. A cancer diagnosis is a life changing moment for all involved, its impact rippling beyond the person receiving it to our friends, family and colleagues, but how we feel and respond to it will be different for each individual. Whether it’s a support group, a massage, exercise, food or a creative activity like art or writing, cancer in all its bleakness can offer the opportunity to discover how best to nourish ourselves through difficult times.

"Through an open call for submissions on this theme, we painstakingly whittled them down to this final selection, which features everything  from the hilarious to the heartbreaking, because of course, how we experience cancer is as complex and unique as we are. Some of the pieces are therefore challenging and we felt it was important not to shy away from this, but have provided content warnings so that readers can choose what they feel able to engage with".