A RETIRED nurse who suffered cancer twice is fundraising for the Gloucestershire mobile chemotherapy unit, which is the only one of its kind in the country.

The unit has been on the road for 18 months and is so popular that it is going to start running four days a week, up from two.

"It is an absolutely amazing service for patients," said Maureen Dore, a member of the board for the mobile unit.

"The mobile unit is so professional, but so homely and the patients just love it."

Maureen, from Cambridge, was asked to join the board for the mobile chemotherapy unit because she had been an oncology patient and had suffered cancer twice, once 20 years ago and then in 2004.

She knows how difficult it is to have to travel to hospital and then to wait around for the appointment.

Most cancer patients in Gloucestershire travel to Cheltenham for treatment, however this can mean long waits for treatment.

Also patients travelling from the Dursley area faced a 40 mile round trip to get there and back home.

"Now some patients can just pop in to the mobile unit and are back at home an hour later or they go back to work, which is fantastic," said Maureen, who is a full-time carer for her husband.

"A lot of people in the area haven’t heard about the unit but people who have cancer have heard about it and everyone wants to use it.

"We are hoping to bring it to the Stroud area later this year or next year. But it is so popular we cannot get to everyone."

The mobile unit is currently in Cirencester and Ross-on-Wye one day a week each and although the service is run in partnership between Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust and the Hope For Tomorrow charity, the service extends to Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Hope For Tomorrow was set up by Christine Mills, of Tetbury, in memory of her husband David who lost his fight against cancer in 2002, Maureen is passionate about the charity and is helping to fundraise for a second mobile unit, which will cost around £150,000 to build.

"This service is all about the patients," said Maureen, who has worked as a nurse in London and Bristol.

"The nurses and staff on the unit are absolutely brilliant, I just can’t say enough how excellent this service is for cancer patients in Gloucestershire."

Maureen is running the Slimbridge Companion Dog Show on Saturday July 26 to raise money for the mobile chemotherapy unit.

The show will be held at the grounds near Slimbridge crossroads, entries will be accepted from 11am and judging starts at 12pm.

The are lots of classes to enter from pedigree sections to novelty classes such as waggiest tail, cleverest trick and most handsome dog.