Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres are delighted by the announcement made last night by First Minister Rhodri Morgan, that the Welsh Assembly Government will provide £1.5 million match funding to build Maggie’s South West Wales centre in the grounds of the Singleton Hospital in Swansea.

The First Minister was speaking at a fundraising dinner for Maggie’s and said, “I am pleased to be able to announce Welsh Assembly Government match-funding for the development of this new purpose-built centre. Almost everyone will have been touched by cancer or knows someone who has.”

Laura Lee, Maggie’s Chief Executive said: “We are over the moon at the news of this generous support from the First Minister and the Welsh Assembly Government. Maggie’s have been working hard to raise the £3 million needed to build Maggie’s South West Wales, and this gives us an enormous jump towards that target. Combined with money already raised from our generous supporters in Wales, this means that we have £961,000 left to raise and then we can start building. We hope to be able to break ground on Kisho Kurokawa’s stunning design in 2010 and open our doors to people affected by cancer in 2011.”

Maggie’s South West Wales currently have an interim facility, offering a range of services, such as support groups and one-to-one counseling with our clinical psychologist, benefits advice, nutrition workshops, relaxation sessions, tai chi and creative art therapy.

A permanent centre would be able to welcome many more people, significantly expand the programme on offer, as well as creating the all-important right environment in which the programme takes place. Around 6,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in South West Wales each year and the Maggie’s Centre, which we plan for the South West Wales Cancer Centre at Singleton Hospital, Swansea, will be a place for everyone affected by cancer in entire region, a population in excess of 900,000. 



Kisho Kurokawa, one of the greatest Japanese architects of the 20th Century and a friend of our founder Maggie Keswick Jencks, has created a design that will both inspire and comfort people. His spiral concept has been compared to a ‘cosmic whirlpool’ and will have a glorious site overlooking Swansea Bay. 



Kisho Kurokawa sadly died in October 2007. Fortunately, designs had been completed shortly beforehand and Maggie’s and his practice, Kisho Kurokawa Associates, are committed to working together on completing the project.

Kisho Kurokawa Associates design received planning permission in January 2009, and with the help of this generous donation from the Welsh Assembly Government we look forward to starting construction in 2010.