Welcome To CSF – Lot
Cancer Support France, Lot was formed in August 2007 under the name CSF Dordogne Est et Lot (CSF DeLot), to provide support to English-speaking people who are affected by cancer. This can be the person directly affected or their spouse, partner, family or friends.
Our trained Active Listeners, provide support as required by the client and assessed by our team. This can be by telephone, personal home visits, accompanying hospital appointments, translation and interpreting services. This is free, confidential support by men and women with a sympathetic ear and approach to those affected by cancer. We help find answers to the questions that frequently go unasked during challenging medical appointments.
We also have a good knowledge and experience of the health system in France which can be daunting for those who may not have needed it prior to being diagnosed with cancer.
Where do we provide our support?
We cover the whole of the département of the Lot, although we say cancer has no boundaries. We are happy to welcome clients, members and supporters from adjoining départements as appropriate, and in co-operation with our neighbouring Associations – we are here to help and support you.
In 2017 we celebrated our tenth anniversary! During this first decade we helped over 128 people. Below, are a few words from those who were facing the biggest challenge of their lives. We helped and supported them to deal with the challenge of cancer… We can help you too!
”I approached CSF some years ago when my husband’s cancer returned. It was a great comfort to me to know that English-speaking help was at the end of a telephone. I was assigned an Active Listener who was always there to support, helping with translations, information and accompanying me to hospital appointments when necessary. We became good friends and although my husband passed away at the beginning of 2016, our friendship has continued. I cannot thank CSF enough and think the work they are doing is to be commended – helping people during what is a very difficult and distressing time.” DM
“In those dark days I will never forget the hand and lifeline that my Active Listener held out to me. Her compassion, kindness and practicality, supported me through the saddest time in my life. Thank you.”
“Big Boys Don’t Cry – Or Do They? I am a 72 year old man, had a good hard-working life, played contact sports and kept myself fit. At the age of 67 I was told I had prostate cancer and after the operation I found I was unable to perform simple tasks to the standard I had always set for myself. I read about CSF and decided I needed someone to talk to, someone who would understand how I felt inside. It took 3 phone calls before I was able to talk about how I felt. Even writing this brings back painful memories. I found someone I could talk to, who was very understanding of my fears and feelings – being a man it took a lot of convincing to be able to discuss my problem with anyone. Thank you CSF for the help you gave me and my wife – I will always be grateful to the members who helped me.” GS
Who supports us?
We are lucky to have the support of our members, and receive donations from many individuals but we have also had the support of 2 generous groups who adopted us as their good cause. One is ‘Poor Paws’ dog adoption service who try to home some of the many abandoned and unwanted dogs in the Lot. ‘Poor Paws’ hold a book sale twice a year to raise funds for their work, and very kindly make a donation to CSF DeLot each year in memory of a dear friend who died of cancer.
Our other benefactors in the past have been the members of ‘A Lot of Baking’ cake club – through donations at their meetings and the auctions they run via their FaceBook Cake Club Fundraising Group over the years they supported us, they have raised an impressive sum for CSF DeLot and at our 10th anniversary meeting, presented us with not only a sizeable cheque but also a wonderful cake, decorated in CSF colours! Have a look at the photos in our Gallery.
We appreciate all the efforts and support from individuals and groups which make our work possible.