Tū rangatira ai'. 'We've been there too.'

'Paying it forward' to help someone else going through a journey that you know well can be a rewarding experience.

Breast Cancer Support Aotearoa is on a mission to provide the best peer support possible to women, men and their families experiencing a diagnosis of breast cancer at any time in their lives.

What is peer support? It is emotional and practical support from those who have 'been there too', to others going through a similar experience.

Our peer support volunteers are trained in-house to share their own experience of breast cancer in a way that is personal, yet positive, hopeful, and helpful.   

We support 'ín person', sharing our own experiences of breast cancer from a positive, personal perspective. 

We do this because sometimes you just need to talk to someone who can really hear what you have to say, will listen and respond, and offer you the type of support that only a personal 'human' connection can.

We do use social media but not as a support tool. We offer a confidential and individual experience,  talking over the phone or on Zoom, or meeting face to face individually or in a support group context.

'Paying it forward' to help someone else going through a journey that you know well can be a rewarding experience. As a peer support volunteer, you can walk that pathway with someone who really needs you to be there for them. That's what Breast Cancer Support Aotearoa is all about: we train our volunteers to provide emotional support, practical assistance and information, and 'tips and tools' to make the cancer journey a little easier.

We do not give medical advice and always refer people back to their medical teams. We encourage people to make well-informed decisions about treatment and care and our role is to help them make sense of the 'information overload' that accompanies a diagnosis. 

Interested in becoming a peer support volunteer? If ...

• your initial diagnosis of breast cancer was at least 18 months ago (if you're still in treatment, that's fine), 
• you have some time to give to volunteer (maybe 2-3 hours a month), 
• you have good communication skills and you're a good listener, 
• you can take time to complete our in-house training programme (currently a half-day session on Zoom), 
• you want to 'pay it forward' to make a real difference for someone experiencing a life-changing diagnosis is breast cancer,

... then please contact us either by phone on 0800 273 222, or email us and we'll be in touch.