Conference Catch Up – May 2025
📅 Date: Tuesday, 13th May 2025
📍 Location: Brampton Park Golf Club, Huntingdon
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 2025 Spring Cancer Support Conference. It was a full and uplifting day packed with inspiration, expert insights, and heartfelt connection.
This year’s programme focused on empowering people living with or beyond a cancer diagnosis, offering practical tools and strategies to support wellbeing across body and mind. We were thrilled to welcome new and familiar faces and to see such energy in the room.
Whether you joined us in person or are catching up from home, we’ve compiled key moments, speaker highlights, and resources from the day below. We’ve also included the leaflet/programme that was distributed for the event.
Meet the Speakers & Download Their Presentations
Our speakers brought their passion and expertise to the room, sharing both professional insight and lived experience. If you’d like to revisit their talks or explore their materials, you can find presentation downloads below
Claire Traub
Topic: Self-management strategies for breathlessness and fatigue
Claire, a Specialist Occupational Therapist, introduced the principles of Enhanced Supportive Care – a holistic, person-centred approach designed to improve quality of life for those living with treatable but incurable cancer. Her session provided gentle, evidence-based strategies to manage cancer-related fatigue and breathlessness, including physical activity, energy conservation, relaxation, and mindfulness techniques.
Andrea Cliff
Topic: Acupuncture for cancer side effects
Andrea, Head HCCN Nurse, provided a calming and informative introduction to how acupuncture can support individuals experiencing common cancer-related symptoms such as nausea, anxiety, and breathlessness. Combining insights from both traditional Chinese medicine and Western practices, Andrea explained how acupuncture may help restore balance, relieve discomfort, and promote a sense of wellbeing. Her session also covered what to expect during treatment, how many sessions may be necessary, and the potential benefits or side effects people might experience.
Dr Claire Goodchild and the CRUK Cambridge Team
Topic: Advances in cancer imaging research
Dr Claire Goodchild and her colleagues from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre provided a fascinating insight into the future of cancer detection and care. Their session examined how new imaging technologies, including PET, MR, metabolic, and personalised screening trials, are enabling earlier diagnosis and more tailored treatment. Highlights included developments in imaging for breast cancer, brain tumours, and immunotherapy response, alongside the powerful role of patient involvement in research design and delivery.
Prof Morag Farquhar
Topic: Support Needs Approach for Patients (SNAP)
Prof Morag Farquhar introduced attendees to SNAP, a compassionate and practical approach that helps people express what support they need while living with or beyond a health condition. Using real-world examples and voices from research, Morag explored why patients’ emotional and practical needs can go unspoken, and how the SNAP tool opens the door to more meaningful, person-centred conversations between healthcare professionals and those they care for. Her talk demonstrated how simple questions can make a significant difference, and how SNAP is now being utilised across the UK and internationally.
📸 Photos from the Day
We’re so pleased to share a few favourite moments from our Spring 2025 Conference. From shared smiles to thought-provoking talks, these snapshots capture the heart of the day — connection, encouragement, and community 💙
- Alongside our speaker sessions and breakout activities, we were proud to welcome a range of stalls and friendly faces who helped bring the day to life:
- The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre joined us with resources, updates and conversation around their current projects.
- Breast Cancer Now hosted a dedicated information stall, sharing support materials and chatting with attendees throughout the day.
- One Leisure were on hand to promote our Get Active scheme – a growing partnership designed to support movement for body and mind across Huntingdonshire.
- And of course, a huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers, who represented HCCN with kindness and helped everything run so smoothly.
Take a look below or visit us on Instagram for more highlights from the event.
Want to know more about our speakers?
We’ve included a downloadable PDF with short biographies, backgrounds and links for each of our contributors.
Stay Connected
If you’ve enjoyed reading about our Spring 2025 Conference, why not take a look at some of our previous events too? Each one brings together friendly faces, expert insight and uplifting conversation, all designed to support adults 18+ living with or beyond a cancer diagnosis in Huntingdonshire.
📖 Explore our past conferences here
💙 or come and say hello on Facebook
Do you have a question or would you like to be the first to hear about upcoming events?
📧 Email us anytime at info@hccnthecharity.org