The bag ladies (From The Northern Echo)

The bag ladies

11:03am Tuesday 31st August 2010 in

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Having survived breast cancer, three women have got together to offer support to others in the form of a Hug in a Bag. Sarah Foster meets them.

THE image says it all. A smiling woman clasps a friend close, her arms enveloping her in an embrace.

She holds a bag reading ‘Hug in a Bag’ and beneath is further explanation: ‘Hug’ is an acronym for Help, Understanding and Glamour. This is a leaflet distributed by three women who know more than a little about these things.

In October 2006, having recovered from breast cancer, Judith Wright, Eileen Richardson and Sue McCoy sent out the first Hugs in a Bag to other breast cancer patients. Their aim was simple – to show that someone who had been through the same thing had some understanding of the experience. Having decided to do some fundraising, the venture came about when the trio wanted to focus their efforts locally. As Eileen explains, they felt huge gratitude to the medical staff who had treated them.

“When we had the original idea it was to raise funds for Macmillan and it was just going to be a one-off event.

But when we talked to the nurses they explained that anything we raised would not necessarily go to Sunderland Royal Hospital – and we’d decided we wanted to say thank you for the care we had received there.

“When we came up with this idea, we thought it was a bit frivolous and we went back to the breast care nurses and explained it with trepidation, but much to our astonishment they encouraged us to go ahead.”

What the women decided to do was to present a bag containing treats – everything from a pashmina to a pink nail file, along with vouchers, toiletries and cosmetics – to make the recipients feel good about themselves.

They also wanted to package vital information in a way that was palatable, hence the leaflet with the women hugging.

“Sometimes, a hug means more than words can say,” says Eileen.

“What I found was people didn’t know how to respond. They went from tears and hysteria to highly practical, but they all came and hugged me tight and that’s what stayed with me.”

The three met at the University Hospital of North Durham, where they had breast reconstruction surgery after their mastectomies.

They began going out socially, laughing and crying together about their experiences and, most importantly, sharing their true feelings – something they felt unable to do with others.

Each had a story to tell of how they had struggled through difficult circumstances; Judith, being only 33 and a mum to Emma, who was only seven, when she was diagnosed and Sue, being a single mum to Dean and Jodi, who were young teenagers at the time. The most dramatic situation was Eileen’s. “I was 27 weeks pregnant with triplets when I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she says. “They were born at 29 weeks and five days and I had them the same day I had the mastectomy.”

Thankfully, Francesca, Gabriella and Nico, now eight, were born healthy, and Eileen, like the other two women, made a full recovery.

Now both Judith, 45, and Sue, 53, are retired, while 57-year-old Eileen is part-owner of a fitness studio. All three divide their time between family commitments and Hug in a Bag.

AS Judith points out, it’s not a support group and chooses to offer help anonymously. “We don’t come into contact with the patients.

We hold a ball every year to raise the money to buy all the stuff for the bags.”

“The bags are put up here in the office and we get a phone call from the breast care nurses to say, ‘we need another ten or 20’ and they are delivered every two or three weeks,”

says Eileen. “We give them to the breast care nurses and they decide which point in the treatment cycle would be appropriate to give them to the patient, because they know the individuals concerned. The only contact we have is when we get emails and thank you cards.”

There must be dozens of these. One letter, from what appears to be an older patient, speaks of how she felt 10ft tall on receiving her bag. It’s a simple gesture that means a lot and the aim is that every woman diagnosed with breast cancer at the Sunderland hospital, where the Hug in a Bag team were treated, should benefit from the gift. This means raising £8,000 a year – no mean feat – but the venture is winning powerful support.

“Last year, we were invited to a reception at Downing Street by the Browns,” says Judith. “She (Sarah Brown) asked to speak to us about Hug in a Bag and she said we shouldn’t be hiding it – she said she thought we should go national. It’s just funding really.”

Fortunately, the women have plenty of support for their annual ball, which is always a sell-out, although they always need prizes for the auction, their main source of revenue.

While they would love to expand the scheme, they struggle to find large firms that are willing to help. As Judith explains, they’re just not high profile enough for most. In the meantime, the team will keep at it, working from their base in Houghton-le- Spring, near Sunderland, to fill the bags that bring so much sunshine.

Just to know that they make a difference is reward enough.

“The point is not to make the recipients of the bags feel that they need to give anything back,” says Eileen. “A simple thank you card means as much to us as anything.”

■ Anyone who is able to offer an auction prize, such as hotel accommodation or a beauty treatment, should contact Judith on 0777-6306559 or email huginabag1@yahoo.co.uk