IAN Pease looks the picture of health as he relaxes in the garden of his Teesdale home. But he is just one of many thousands of patients living with cancer to have benefited from the work of Macmillan Cancer Relief.

After he was diagnosed with cancer the businessman was so impressed by the support and care provided by Macmillan that he agreed to allow his smiling face to appear on the cover of the charity's County Durham appeal leaflet.

"My recovery started when my wife and family first met our Macmillan nurse, because we all needed her reassurance," says Ian.

Lewis Tomlinson, who was looking forward to enjoying his early retirement when he was diagnosed with cancer, was not so fortunate. The senior manager stepped down from his demanding job at Astra Zeneca's Seal Sands site in 1997 to spend more time with his wife Carole. But within a few years the father-of-four was given the shattering news that his illness was terminal.

Carole, 53, who lives in Hamsterley, County Durham, now wishes she had contacted Macmillan Cancer Relief sooner. It was well into her husband's 12-month illness before the couple were visited by Terri, one of 18 Macmillan nurses who work within County Durham.

"The initial meeting with the Macmillan nurse was at my husband's request, once he had been told it was terminal," Carole recalls. "She was a lovely lady, I cannot speak highly enough of her. She was so calm."

Mrs Tomlinson remembers her husband looking her in the eye and asking her how long he had left.

"Most people would have gone weak-kneed at a question like that. She just looked at him calmly and said 'nobody can tell you that. Everybody is different, every tumour is different'. She brought a sense of calm."

While the NHS provided treatment, Carole says it was the support provided by Macmillan that helped the family to get through a terrible time. "She was always there to help us. One of the main things she did was to arrange a special aromatherapy session for my husband at the Butterwick Hospice in Bishop Auckland. He really enjoyed that for a couple of months."

During the latter phase of his illness, Mr Tomlinson was admitted to Bishop Auckland General Hospital and again, Terri, the Macmillan nurse, was always available. "She bumped into us when he was finally admitted to hospital. She came over and from that moment she came every day, talking to the staff and telling us what was happening. I was capable of doing that normally, but at a time like this your brain tells you something is happening but your heart won't let you believe it," Carole recalls.

The Macmillan nurse made sure her husband got everything he needed while in hospital.

Lewis Tomlinson, a much-loved father, husband and family man, died earlier this year, aged 60. Mourners were asked to make donations to Macmillan in lieu of flowers and the collection plate overflowed with nearly £600.

"He didn't smoke, he was a fit man who went to the gym two or three times a week. It just came out of the blue," says Carole. "You hear the statistics that cancer is going to touch one in three people but you always think it is going to be one of the other two."

Her experience of Macmillan was typical of thousands of other people in the UK every day. An organisation founded in the early part of the last century it has become one of the largest support services for cancer patients in the world.

The charity provides care, support and information for people with cancer and their families, through Macmillan nurses and doctors, dedicated cancer units and information centres and via a special helpline.

One of the unique things that Macmillan can do is to provide grants to patients who are in financial difficulties because of their illness.

There are already 18 Macmillan nurses in County Durham, working alongside GPs and district nurses to provide care for people in their own homes.

Many patients in financial need - because they are too ill to work - have already benefited from grants, to help pay fuel bills, or for vital items such as washing machines and telephones. Macmillan can even provide convalescent breaks for patients and their families.

But experts from Macmillan believe so much more could be done in Durham, it is the only county in England which does not have its own Macmillan consultant in palliative care (care of incurably ill patients).

Macmillan believe that having their own consultant will make a huge difference to the quality of palliative care available to people living in County Durham.

Apart from treating patients, his or her role will be to co-ordinate the care provided by nurses and work with the NHS to improve services across the board.

That's why Macmillan launched its County Durham Appeal last night to raise £600,000 to fund a palliative care consultant and two extra nurses for three years. If it succeeds - and Macmillan is so confident that it has already appointed one of the new nurses - the NHS will take over the funding, after the three years have elapsed.

Caroline Peacock, the Hamsterley-based joint coordinator of the Macmillan County Durham Appeal, got involved because she knows too many people whose lives have been touched by cancer.

"A very dear cousin of mine died last year and we have two other close friends who have also died of cancer and we know many others who are living with cancer - which is really what Macmillan is all about," says Caroline.

"We are absolutely delighted at the support we have had. To have Sir Kenneth Calman as president is wonderful and we have an excellent list of patrons, including the Lord Lieutenant Sir Paul Nicholson and Lord Barnard," she says.

But everyone who works for Mamillan in the North-East knows that County Durham is going to be a tough nut to crack. "Durham is not a particularly wealthy county, there are not many individuals who are going to write you a cheque for £10,000. I think the fund-raising will be done by a mass of community events. The key is to get as many ordinary people motivated - nobody is going to wave a magic wand and produce the money," says Caroline.

The Northern Echo has pledged to support the appeal and this newspaper will carry all the news of fund-raising events as they happen.

"Four out of ten of us will experience cancer at some stage of our lives and that will soon be five out of ten. I think this appeal is incredibly important and I am sure we will get generous support," says Caroline.

l If you want to get involved in supporting the County Durham appeal contact the Macmillan office on 0191-370-9798.