For almost 20 years, hundreds of people in Northern Ireland haven't had to travel on a cancer journey alone thanks to Joanne Boal.
The Belfast-based art therapist has worked for leading local cancer charity, Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, helping adults, children and families deal with a cancer diagnosis through art and journaling.
With a career spanning over 17 years, Joanne's work has been particularly beneficial when people find it difficult to find the words to describe their feelings and emotions such as fear, anxiety, stress and depression. It also gives anyone affected by cancer time out to relax and gives a greater sense of well-being.
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Joanne's work spanned an art room, out in the community or on the wards of local hospitals from the Cancer Focus NI service centre at Eglantine Avenue in south Belfast, the Macmillan Centre at Belfast City Hospital with young patients at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
Joanne, 55, said: “A cancer diagnosis can be a lonely and isolating experience, with even the most loving family and friends not fully able to grasp the realities of what it feels like to be in their loved one’s shoes.
“Having a safe space to come and meet others in a similar position to you when you are at your most vulnerable, and discuss your hopes and fears, is essential.
“In the past 17 years, I've worked with little ones as young as 18 months with leukaemia all the way through to a 94-year-old who developed breast cancer.”
She added: “Creative expression can foster healing and help process the trauma of a cancer diagnosis, and it has been the privilege of my career to work for Cancer Focus NI. To know that art therapy is a source of someone’s joy and healing during one of the most difficult times of their lives is truly a humbling experience.”
It was Joanne’s own experience with grief and cancer that hit home the importance of her work, having lost her sister, Louise Duncan, to the disease nine years ago. A minister in the Church of Scotland, she had just turned 40 and had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
“Seeing the impact the loss of my sister had on my nephew, who was nine at the time, her husband, and my parents, really showed me the importance of art as an outlet when fear and grief can be overwhelming. She always told me I was making a difference, and I can still feel that she’s here with me through my work,” she added.
Joanne says the impact of art therapy can be life-changing, to both the individual diagnosed with cancer and their family as she recalled one particular session with a child she was visiting in the hospital.
“I really loved bringing the charity’s art therapy service to the Children’s Hospital. There was one little girl in particular who loved Rapunzel and, after painting our nails, we began drawing pictures of the princess. By the time the girl’s mum returned from getting a coffee, she couldn’t believe the difference in her daughter.
“After just 30 minutes of the service, the woman said she had got her little girl back. That memory has stayed with me for years and reminds me of the difference that services provided by Cancer Focus NI can make on people’s lives. I can’t change the outcome, but I can make it a bit easier to cope with. ”
Joanne, who lives in east Belfast, will be moving from art therapy to therapy, volunteering with Larder>East, based in St Christopher’s Church on Mersey Street. The community food hub, which started out as a food bank over a decade ago, is now a welcoming space for those experiencing food poverty.
"On a Friday morning, you'll find me there with fresh scones, soda bread and maybe a wheaten loaf, making tea and building community. It's something I've been thinking about for a while. I'm very much a foodie person and was doing a lunch on a Friday here anyway."
Pat McClelland, Director of Services at Cancer Focus NI, highlighted the impact Joanne has made during her time with the organisation and said her positive attitude, welcoming nature, and kitchen skills will be greatly missed by the staff and clients.
She said: “Joanne has touched the lives of countless people with her memorable fashion sense and fantastic cooking skills. Every colleague and client of Joanne’s can bear testimony to her homemade cakes, quiches, and soups, which bring smiles to faces and encourage people to sit around the table and converse.
“However, it is Joanne’s passion and dedication to her clients that she will be remembered for most and I thank her for all that she has done for the charity and wish her the very best for the next exciting chapter of her life.”
The charity has been in communication with art therapy patients over the past month and all have been notified of short-term changes to the delivery of the service. As Cancer Focus NI progresses with plans to open its very first Therapeutic Cancer Support Centre in Enniskillen this spring, the charity will use this time to review the service.
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