CENTRAL Devon MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride has welcomed the announcement that FORCE Cancer Charity outreach services will resume at Okehampton Hospital from September.

Services were halted when the pandemic hit in 2020.

Mr Stride was briefed on Friday, June 23, by Alex Moseley, FORCE Support Services Manager, and heard how the resumption of services had been made possible due to National Lottery Community Funding.

Mel said: “I am delighted that the fantastic outreach service provided by FORCE will resume in Okehampton from September. Bringing services closer to where people live and making them easier to access is so important and it was great to get more detail about the plans from Alex on Friday.”

Alex added: “We at FORCE are so excited to be re-opening our service in Okehampton as patients have told us that they want to access our services here. We know that this couldn’t happen without the support of our volunteers and supporters who live locally, and the support of our partners in Oncology and Community Services at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.”

FORCE (Friends of the Oncology and Radiotherapy Centre Exeter) first began offering support in Okehampton in 2014.

Post-pandemic, FORCE offers services at its Exeter centre and in Ottery St Mary.

The charity support service will be open at Okehampton Hospital every Wednesday between 10am and 4pm, and from September 6 will provide counselling, physiotherapy and exercise advice, complimentary therapies, and group support programmes.

For more information about FORCE or to make a donation to support its work, please visit: www.forcecancercharity.co.uk  or telephone 01392 406151.