IN THE run-up to this year’s A Place to be Proud of Awards, The Gazette will be speaking to some of last year’s winners to see how winning the award has helped them.

This week, we have spoken to Natasha Walsh, who is one of the trustees of cancer support organisation The Blue Space, which won the Health and Care Award, sponsored by the BMI The Hampshire Clinic.

The Blue Space, which was set up in 2017 as a subsidiary of woman’s cancer support organisation The Pink Place, offers support for men and their partners who have been diagnosed with cancer. It holds free therapy and help sessions every two weeks and has started a monthly social group to help build a support network for attendees.

Natasha said: “It was completely unexpected to win the award, we didn’t prepare for it at all. It was quite incredible, we were shocked to win.

“It’s been going well, we’ve seen an increase in support, with more people coming in.

"It’s a subject that some men don’t like to talk about, so providing a service that can help for both them and their partners is great.”

Natasha believes winning the award has helped the group. She added: “I would definitely encourage people to get involved. The exposure from winning is really good, and the achievement of winning is a reward as well.”

Future plans for The Blue Space include getting the support sessions to take place weekly, and to get more people involved.

Anyone who would like more information on The Blue Space, can visit thepinkplace.org.uk/pink-place-sessions/blue-space, call 07899 970 841 or e-mail info4bluespace@gmail.com.