Moving Forward

What is the Moving Forward course?

Finishing hospital treatment can bring a mix of feelings – sometimes it's hard to feel "back to normal." You might still be coping with the shock of your diagnosis, adjusting to changes from treatment, or feeling worried about the future. Our Moving Forward course is here to help you with these challenges. It's a supportive space to learn tools and feel confident so that you can find your way and feel in control after treatment.

This course is designed to give you the tools and insights you need to embrace life after treatment. Through open conversations, you'll connect with others who really understand, sharing experiences in a safe and confidential environment.

About our Moving Forward course

Our course runs over 2 half-days on consecutive weeks, either in-person or online. It's a chance to talk about what you’ve been through and get the tools you need to move forward.

Week 1 - Looking back to move forward: This session offers a safe and supportive space to share anything that's on your mind and explore what you need to start moving forward. It's an opportunity to acknowledge your experience.

Week 2 - Moving forward: Here, you'll discover practical tools to help you adjust to daily life. We'll guide you through the '5 Ways to Wellbeing' and offer online resources on topics like activity levels, mental wellbeing, lymphoedema, menopausal symptoms, managing worries of the cancer coming back, and eating well. You'll also have a chance to ask questions to a healthcare professional in a Q&A session.

Alongside the sessions, you'll receive a Moving Forward journal and access to a wealth of resources to support you in your own time.

Is the Moving Forward course for me?

Our Moving Forward course is for anyone who has finished their active hospital-based treatment for primary breast cancer. This means you:

• May have completed surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy
• Might still be on hormone therapy, targeted therapy (like Herceptin or abemaciclib), or awaiting further surgery such as a reconstruction

What you can expect

Taking part

At our Moving Forward course, you'll connect with others through supportive and open conversations. Our trained facilitators will create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone to share.

At our online course, we encourage you to keep your camera on. It helps everyone to feel more connected. We’ll also invite you to introduce yourself, ask any questions and contribute to group discussions if you want to.

Signing up

Find a Moving Forward course and choose a location that's suitable for you.

Once you’ve signed up, we’ll send you an email confirming your place.

Group size

Courses typically have 6 to 15 people.

Course leaders

The Moving Forward course is led by trained facilitators. You'll always be in a supported and knowledgeable environment.

Please remember that our courses are for support and information, not individual medical advice or therapy. Healthcare professionals are typically only present for the Q&A session in Week 2. Always speak to your medical team about your personal health concerns.

Length

Both in-person and online courses run over 2 half-day sessions on consecutive weeks (approximately 3.5 hours per session).

Privacy

All our groups are confidential, creating a safe and private space for you to share. At the start of every group, we remind everyone that what people share in the group stays in the group.

Refreshments

At our in-person courses, we'll provide a variety of tea, coffee, water, biscuits and fruit.

Staying in touch

Many groups choose to stay in touch after the course ends, but this is entirely up to you.

Bringing someone

Our courses are designed as a confidential space exclusively for people who have experienced primary breast cancer. Therefore, we kindly ask that you attend alone. However, we offer free, confidential support for anyone close to you through our Helpline and Someone Like Me service.

Getting to a course

All in-person Moving Forward courses take place in venues close to a train station and with parking on-site or nearby. Venues have accessible toilets and disabled car parking. Rooms are located on the ground floor or first floor with lift access.

Our online courses take place on Zoom. We’ll send you some guidance about how to set up Zoom on your phone, tablet or laptop before the event. If you’re still having trouble, let us know and someone on the team can talk you through it.

If you need support to take part in an online or in-person course, call our team on 0345 077 1893 or email servicesbusinesssupport@breastcancernow.org. We’ll do what we can to make sure you can take part.

Attending and cancelling

We encourage attending both weeks of the same course, so that you can get the most out of it and make strong connections with your group.

We understand that sometimes you might not feel well enough to attend, plans change unexpectedly and you might not be able to come anymore and that’s totally OK.

If you need to cancel, please let us know as soon as you can so that we can offer your place to someone on the waiting list. We’ll send you reminders leading up to the course start date and you’ll be able to cancel your reservation on our online booking system.

Employer support

Your employer should allow you to take time off to attend, as our course is considered part of your treatment. If you experience any difficulties get in touch and we can provide a supporting letter.

Financial support

We believe everyone should have access to support. All our services are free thanks to our generous supporters.

We know that getting to events might still cost money, for example if you have to pay for travel. If you’re worried about these costs, our Access Fund can help. Email us at accessfund@breastcancernow.org or call 0345 077 1893, and we'll do our best to support you.

Healthcare professional referral

If you’re a healthcare professional and would like to refer one of your patients to our Moving Forward course, please use our dedicated referral form.