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Getty Images<\/p>\nGetty Images<\/p>\n
Plans for a Maggie’s centre in Dumfries were first mooted over a decade ago<\/p>\n
Long-delayed plans to build a cancer care centre in the grounds of a hospital in Dumfries have been given the green light.<\/p>\n
The Maggie’s centre is set to be built next to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary \u2013 more than a decade after a feasibility study was carried out.<\/p>\n
NHS charity bosses said they were unable to fund the project last year due to financial constraints.<\/p>\n
But an agreement between Maggie’s, named after Dumfries native Maggie Keswick Jenks, and the local NHS board has now been reached.<\/p>\n
It will see Maggie’s take forward the plans on land rented by NHS Dumfries and Galloway under a “peppercorn lease” arrangement.<\/p>\n
A timescale for the project<\/a> has not yet been disclosed.<\/p>\n Maggie’s chief executive, Dame Laura Lee, said the centre would be transformational for those living with cancer across the region.<\/p>\n She said many people currently had to travel to Glasgow or Edinburgh to access support, but that would now be brought closer to home.<\/p>\n “This centre has been in development for a long time, so it is wonderful to now be able to look forward to a time when people living with cancer have our expert support closer to them,” she said.<\/p>\n “Of course, we also know that there’s something special about having a centre here because we know how fondly our founder Maggie Keswick Jencks is remembered in her hometown.”<\/p>\n Maggie Keswick Jencks died from breast cancer in 1995 – a year before the first Maggie’s Centre opened<\/p>\n About 1,200 cancer diagnoses are made in Dumfries and Galloway every year, the charity said.<\/p>\n Maggie Keswick Jenks was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 47 and was told it had returned in 1993.<\/p>\n She died in 1995, but not before laying the groundwork for the creation of a support centre for people with cancer, and their families.<\/p>\n The first Maggie’s centre was built at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh the following year.<\/p>\n The charity now has eight centres operating across Scotland and others in the UK, Netherlands and Spain.<\/p>\n Initial plans for a centre in Dumfries were first assessed in 2014 and formally went before NHS Dumfries and Galloway in June 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n The health board was asked to put up \u00a3250,000 towards the \u00a34m centre, but that failed to get off the ground.<\/p>\n In July last year, the health board \u2013 which is facing a \u00a335m financial deficit \u2013 said it could not commit to an increased initial outlay of \u00a31m and an ongoing \u00a380,000 per year support package.<\/p>\n![\"Maggie's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0a4a0360-777f-11f0-b15a-09fa5f596b3a.png.webp.webp\")
Maggie’s Centres<\/p>\n
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Maggie’s Centres<\/p>\n