Purple House Cancer Support
On Monday the 26th of February, I started my community service placement in Purple House Cancer Support in Bray. My hours there were good; 11 to 2 so I only had to be there for 3 hours. I was only there for two days as the centre was closed for the rest of the week as a result of the snow. The first day I was there I took part in a mindfulness and painting session. First the leader, Veronica, played a meditation soundtrack for about 5 minutes and then everyone painted whatever they wanted. The point of the session was to give people suffering as a result of cancer in different ways a way to take their mind off their problems and give them a place to talk to other people who have been affected in the same way. The whole session lasted around two hours. After that, I helped clean up the paint and all the brushes. The next day there was a men's support group for men who had been affected by cancer for them to just have a conversation with other men that had gone through the same things they had. I enjoyed this community service placement as it showed me that you can get past bad things, like cancer and still enjoy your life.