MACMILLAN APPEAL: IN 1911 a young man named Douglas Macmillan watched his father die of cancer. His father's pain and suffering moved Douglas, then aged 26, to call for basic standards for all people with cancer.
He wanted advice and information for all, homes for cancer patients, providing free or low cost care and voluntary nurses supporting patients in their own homes.
As a means of achieving these standards, Macmillan founded the Society for the Prevention and Relief of Cancer in 1911.
Macmillan expressed his vision of equality in cancer care. He said: "I want even the poorest people to be provided with the latest and best advice, both for avoiding cancer and for recognising and dealing with it where it exists.
"I want to see homes for cancer patients throughout the land, where attention will be provided freely or at low cost, as circumstances dictate.
"I want also to see panels of voluntary nurses who can be detailed off to attend to necessitous patients in their own home."
Douglas Macmillan died in 1969, aged 84. Here are some of the charity's more recent achievements:
1991 - The Macmillan Nurse Appeal was launched to raise £20m with the Prince of Wales as patron.
1993 - The Prince of Wales funded the 1,000th Macmillan nurse.
1994 - The charity pioneered 10 minimum standards of care as part of a nationwide campaign about breast cancer.
1995 - Macmillan developed the first Directory of Breast Cancer Services in the UK, giving it to GPs.
1997 - The charity's name changed to Macmillan Cancer Relief. More than 1600 Macmillan nurses were in post. Macmillan also published The Cancer Guide, a guide to treatment and care for patients, and the Macmillan Cancer Relief Information Line opened.
2000 - The charity funded its 2,000th Macmillan nurse.
2001 - Macmillan merged with Cancerlink after a 16-year association, and the first Macmillan Mobile Information Centre visited 51 sites across England.
2002 - Macmillan completed its 100th building project, a day centre at Craigavon in Northern Ireland and the Macmillan CancerLine service was launched, integrating the existing Macmillan Information Line and Cancerlink's Support link services.
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