Isaac Dweben/Cancer Black Care

So, I saw that there was a need here. I did not even envisage that I would set up an organisation of this size. I set this group up, meeting with cancer patients. I said, if you are affected by cancer or touched by cancer, come and meet and share your experiences with others who are coping with the disease. That was in October 1995.

In '96, I felt that there was a great need. I wrote an article in the Voice about the group I was setting up, and on my answerphone you could hear about 10 or 15 patients a day wanting to see me. I started visiting them in hospital, in their hospices, and in the community.

I was still working as an accountant. I did these visits during my free time. I even set up the office and paid the rent myself. This forced me to become a part-time accountant because I didn't have time to work full-time. I ran the Cancer Black Care office on a part-time basis. All the expenses, such as providing tea and coffee for the patients, transportation, I paid myself. So I approached Trust for London, which gave me the money for the rent. From 1995 to 1997, I was on my own. I started to give talks at the hospices as well. All the time, I was on my own.

I would go to a conference and I would be the only one, the lone voice there. It was not an easy journey. But the death of my brother, plus the fact that I met a cancer patient who said to me, "Isaac, I think I'm the only Black woman who has cancer" - these things gave me motivation and drive to persevere on this journey.