Cancer survivor and longtime volunteer Tracey Barratt has been appointed the Cancer Society’s new South Canterbury community manager.
Mrs Barratt received the news from the society confirming her new role in the same week as the 10-year anniversary of her own cancer diagnosis.
She takes over from former manager Leola Wilson, who has moved to Presbyterian Support South Canterbury as marketing and fundraising manager.
Mrs Barratt was just 26 when she discovered she had non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After surgery to have three tumours in her abdomen removed, including part of her bowel, she had three months of chemotherapy. During this time, Mrs Barratt received support from the Cancer Society services including connection to a wig provider, a turban and bandannas and the driving service to and from treatments.
Ten years down the track, Mrs Barratt is the proud mum of two girls, Paige, 8 and Pippa, 6, and leads a busy life balancing time with her family and fulltime work.
She recalled the joy she felt in discovering she was going to be a mother.
‘‘I’d been told, due to my diagnosis, that it was unlikely I would be able to have children easily, so when I discovered I was going to have a baby it was a pretty huge moment.’’
Determined to give back to the Cancer Society, Mrs Barratt took part in her first Relay for Life in 2014 and has been an extremely active volunteer for the South Canterbury Cancer Society over the last nine years, so much so that she has earned the nickname ‘‘Daff’’ among the local community.
After nine years working for Fonterra in a variety of roles, including community engagement, she started her new role as community manager for the South Canterbury Cancer Society on November 6, based in Timaru.
She was looking forward to continuing to build on the strong relationship the society had with the local community.
Mrs Barratt said she recognised it was the tight-knit nature of the local community, and the propensity of the locals to get stuck in and lend a hand, that were keys to the Cancer Society continuing to provide essential services to those with cancer.
‘‘With cancer diagnoses in New Zealand predicted to almost double over the next 10 years, we will rely even more heavily on our army of incredible local volunteers and our truly supportive community to enable us to help those in need,’’ she said.
The Cancer Society provides practical support for people with cancer, such as a driving service to appointments, counselling and mental health support and one-to-one advice on navigating their cancer journey.
Mrs Barratt said the South Canterbury team was always available, and she encouraged anyone looking for help with navigating cancer or with fundraising ideas to come in for assistance.
‘‘Our door is always open. We love a good chat over a cuppa — just pop in any time.’’
As a cancer survivor herself, Mrs Barratt had a message for those on their own cancer journey.
‘‘Remember that your journey is unique to you, everyone has a different experience, but most importantly there is hope.
‘‘We are here to help provide that.’’
