MY husband Martin (Head of Maths at a Sixth Form College) died, aged 52, four years ago of pancreatic cancer.

After he died, I decided I wanted to help improve cancer awareness, diagnosis and care.

There was an article in the local paper about starting up a Patient Involvement Group to which I replied.

We heard that Macmillan Cancer Relief wanted to set up a national carers' group with the aim of producing a booklet to help/assist people caring for cancer patients in their cancer journey.

I phoned up and was invited to take part. Over the last year we've discussed our own personal caring stories, the problems we've faced, some solutions and people who have helped us.

The carers and Macmillan team worked to condense our experiences into an easy-to-read format for carers to pick up and put down.

Sharing with other carers and former carers has been personally beneficial for me. With cancer, things are certainly never perfect and can be emotionally frightening and taxing, when caring for a loved one.

I feel this carers' resource entitled Hello and How Are You? will help and perhaps provide a few shortcuts for carers, when time is very short and precious.

Hello and How Are You? will be given to GPs, Macmillan nurses and hospices for carers. To obtain a free copy please contact Macmillan Cancerline 0808 808 2020 or visit the website: www.macmillan.org.uk

ELIZABETH NEWBOULD,

C/o Macmillan Cancer Relief

89 Albert Embankment

London SE1 7UQ