A one-year-old Birmingham programme empowering diverse communities to understand cancer is set to help smash more health taboos after reaching thousands of people.

Work by Ambrose Koryang and a team of staff at Birmingham-based Health Exchange, has given traditionally 'hard to reach' communities more peace of mind about potentially devastating illness.

Ambrose, Health Exchange's support coordinator for Macmillan Cancer, which funds his post, has regularly broadcast on cancer-related topics through local Birmingham community radio and led weekly workshops for community organisations.

He is now planning to also reduce stigma attached to mental and sexual health as well as some less high-profile cancers as part of a countrywide scheme with the UK volunteering charity CSV.

Ambrose, who is currently totting up the exact number of people helped so far, says it runs into thousands thanks to 'countless' messages he has broadcast through New Style Radio and at the regular workshops.

He has also directly helped around 20 individuals undergoing medical treatment or who've been concerned about their specific symptoms as well as answering financial and welfare worries, advising on how benefits may be affected.

In one case, Ambrose became an advocate for an elderly Birmingham woman who felt her views weren't being wholly listened to by her medical team, ultimately enabling her to spend her final days at home rather than in hospital.

He says: "In some communities there isn't even a word for cancer, or people may feel ashamed to discuss it - in some cultures having cancer can mean the patient feels a stigma, or wants to pretend it's not happening.

"As you can imagine if you have grown up thinking there is no such thing as cancer or that there is a shame attached to this potentially terminal illness, you will be terrified. On top of that barriers coming from language and culture may mean information isn't accessible.

"In African-Caribbean, or other black and minority ethnic communities, which can be very close knit, people can tend to shy away from finding out about cancer, they are so scared and embarrassed.

"Of course there is no need, with one in three people affected by cancer and more than two million people in the UK living with the disease and managing their symptoms, or successfully undergoing treatment, cancer doesn't have to be as devastating as people fear."

"My work with Health Exchange and Macmillan aims to end that sense of shame and fear. There has traditionally been a huge gap in information aimed at BME communities.

A simple but very effective achievement for Ambrose has been to persuade Macmillan to incorporate information in a 'Questions about cancer' leaflet in various languages, including Chinese, Bengali, Urdu and Polish.

In the year he has been in post, some 1,000 such leaflets have been distributed, advising people where to turn for help.  

At Health Exchange, a team of more than 20 health supporter staff also underpin Ambrose's work, alongside that of other Health Exchange services, staff and coordinators.

Now Ambrose, 32, of Winson Green, is also set to expand his work with Health Exchange by taking part in a nationwide initiative by CSV called Stripping it Bare - where 'health champions' will tackle embarrassing illnesses with Government funding.

This will also target groups who have traditionally been thought of as hard to reach. Alongside bowel and prostate cancer, it will also focus on other potentially taboo conditions including mental and sexual health.

Ambrose says: "The work we have done in providing cancer support and information at Health Exchange will play a vital role in informing the CSV Stripping it Bare programme. 

"We are currently developing the programme for Birmingham which will target older people and I am drawing on my experience from the last 12 months to help take the programme forward."

Health Exchange is a social enterprise dedicated to the promotion of health and wellbeing for everyone and reducing health inequalities. It works on behalf of primary care trusts, GP's, local authorities and other bodies who have an interest in promoting public health and wellbeing. Its staff and volunteers do this by providing a range of easily accessible locally based services, delivered in a way that makes health and wellbeing available to everyone.

Partner relations manager Patrick McCormick says: "In just 12 months, Ambrose has made a significant difference to the lives of marginalised people who previously found important information about their condition hard to access. We are very proud of what he has been able to achieve as well as all the wonderful efforts of our volunteers and we look forward to reaching out further through the Stripping it Bare campaign."  

For more information, Patrick McCormick can be contacted on 0121 663 0007 or his mobile number is 07788 656 883.