THE future of a project which enables cancer sufferers to access treatment closer to home has been secured.

Funding for the Tavistock Chemotherapy Outreach Project has been taken over by Derriford Hospital to enable it to continue to treat patients in Tavistock rather than them having to travel into Plymouth for treatment.

The project, which is based at the Triangle Centre at Tavistock Clinic in Plymouth Road and has been supported by charitable donations since it began in 2011, has allowed more than 5,000 patients to receive their chemotherapy treatments closer to home with the help of two cancer support nurses Lucy Figg and Sue Hackworth.

A spokesperson for the project said: 'It was taken to heart by the local community and so many people have undertaken amazing fundraising efforts to enable it to continue and progress.'

Debbie Clift, cancer support nurse at the Triangle Outreach Centre has acknowledged the efforts of fundraisers in the Tavistock area over the past four years, without which patients would not have been able to receive their treatment close to their homes.

She said: 'Thank you one and all, from the people who put an anonymous £5 in an envelope, to the large donations — all are so vital. Funding for the Triangle Centre will still be required but it is good to know that the funding for the chemotherapy outreach is secure.'

One such charitable donation came from the Tavistock Lions Club recently, in the form of a £2,000 donation to the Triangle Centre from the Trees of Light Christmas fund. The money was used to purchase a new treatment chair for the centre.