“Go on then, who watched Strictly this weekend?” demands driver Graham Bradbury as he noses the minibus onto the A64. “What did Bruno say?”

Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli gets short shrift from Graham’s passengers. “Oh, some of the comments he makes! I just don’t like them,” says a voice from the back of the bus.

Strictly Come Dancing, the past weekend and quiet words of mutual support – such is the conversation on the York Against Cancer minibus as it heads for St James’s Hospital on a crisp, blue autumn day.

Those on board are using the charity’s free service taking people from York and the surrounding area for radiotherapy at St James’s Bexley Wing.

Today there are five patients on the bus, bought through a fundraising appeal supported by the public and by City of York councillor Ian Gillies during his year as Lord Mayor.

“It’s a lot better for the patients, this bus,” says Graham, who shares driver duties with colleague Ian Stevenson. “Before, they were all single seats, but now there are double seats which are a lot more comfortable.”

Among those in the smart blue vehicle is Harry Watson, on his last but one trip in a seven-and-a-half-week course of treatment. Harry, who formerly worked in x-ray and nuclear medicine sales, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the summer.

“When the GP said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s cancer’ ”, recalls Harry, “I said, ‘It’s nothing to worry about.’ But then I got outside and realised what he had said! Fortunately, everything has gone really smoothly.

York Press:

 Treatment coordinator Yvonne Saunders and patient Harry Watson share a joke at St James’s Hospital

“When you get on the York Against Cancer bus, you get on as a stranger, but in a very short time you are all chatting about friends, relationships, jobs – it’s a form of community.”

Harry’s looking forward to tomorrow and his final dose of treatment at Bexley Wing where, bracketed to the wall in the radiotherapy area, is a hand bell. Patients ring it heartily when they have had their last treatment, to a loud round of applause from all around.

“I want a photo taking down there, just as that bell is falling off the wall!” Harry says, and the bus erupts in laughter.

“The bus has been brilliant,” says Harry later. “It is very convenient – my wife would have had to drive otherwise. And it is so flexible, there is no rush. One day last week there was a delay with my treatment and they said it was going to be 4.30pm before they could see me. I said to them, ‘Don’t wait, I’ll get the bus,’ but Ian said, ‘No, I will come back for you,’ and he had me home by 6pm. “

Hilary Young, from Wigginton, is having treatment for breast cancer, diagnosed at a mammography. A nurse at York Hospital, she had seen the York Against Cancer shop there but did not know about the minibus until radiotherapy was decided upon and a friend of a friend mentioned it to her.

“It has taken the stress out of the journey across to Leeds,” she says. “I would have been setting off ridiculously early to make sure I could find somewhere to park, and with the drive home afterwards I just didn’t know how I was going to feel. It was worrying me.

York Press:

Hilary Young

“This is a really useful service. There’s just a lot of laughing and joking – this is a support system that is different to anything else.”

David Lovett, of Boroughbridge Road, is a retired postman who discovered he had prostate cancer around 18 months ago and was under active surveillance until last summer when he was advised to move ahead with treatment – again, a course of radiotherapy at Bexley Wing.

“Like most men, I was just hoping it was a germ in my water, but I have got to live with it now and hopefully I am on the mend,” he says. “The service means a lot. Not having my own transport, I was thinking about how I would get there.

“It’s such a nice thing when there’s a group of us here. Everybody is chatting and if you get on the bus feeling a bit hesitant or a bit low, you get off in a completely different frame of mind.”

York Press:

David Lovett

We’ve arrived at Bexley Wing, and as the patients walk into the light, bright public areas that look more like an art gallery than a hospital, Graham discusses his pleasure in his job. “It’s a real feel-good factor,” he says. “When you see people at a low ebb and you see them through the process and then five or six months later they are looking so much healthier, it’s great.”

As the patients have their radiotherapy we chat to Yvonne Saunders, treatment co-ordinator and information, care and support officer in the department. She sees everyone as they come in and looks out for anyone in need of special attention.

“When people make their first visit for planning or treatment and they come in not knowing what they’re walking into, we’re here to make sure they know what support there is in the department,” she says. “We have natural healing, look good, feel better sessions, help with healthy eating, beating fatigue, getting active and looking forward after treatment.

“We tell them about the free parking and the transport options, including the York Against Cancer minibus, and about the hotel service here for patients and relatives.

York Press:

Yvonne Saunders

“I love my job. I work with everybody in the department from the managers to the cleaners; we are like one big family. We see approximately 300 to 500 patients each day Monday to Friday, having a single session up to 37. Some people are very ill, but you just make their journey through the department as comfortable as possible.

“You bump into people afterwards when they come for their follow-up appointment, or they sometimes call when they have had good news.

“It's lovely when you bump into somebody outside the hospital. I was once shopping and saw this lady - I smiled as we passed and she smiled back. Then she realised who I was and she shouted over to me, ‘That's one of my angels!’ That was lovely.”

We tour the radiotherapy unit: the planning department, the scanner, the high-tech radiotherapy machines, the children’s room and the teenagers’ chill-out zone. As we pass through reception, someone rings that bell to herald the end of their treatment, and applause breaks out all around them.

Tomorrow, it’ll be Harry’s turn.

York Press:

Harry Watson with the bell rung by Bexley Wing patients who have completed their treatment

  • Since this feature was written, we're pleased to confirm that Harry Watson has completed his treatment and is doing well - though he misses all his friends on the minibus...
  • For more information about York Against Cancer, its minibus and the many other services it offers, visit yorkagainstcancer.org.uk or call 01904 764466