A five-week workshop for men and woman who are recovering from cancer is to be held in Cork next month.

The Survive and Thrive workshop will be hosted by the Marie Keating Foundation and is free of charge. It will include advice from experts who will cover a range of topics including how to manage stress, how to manage fatigue and changing nutritional needs.

According to the foundation's director of nursing services, Helen Forristal, there are currently over 280,000 people in Ireland who have survived cancer, ‘which is heartening and gives great hope to people going through cancer treatment at the moment'.

"However, we also have to acknowledge that surviving cancer comes with its own unique challenges. Survivors can struggle with learning to cope with the ‘new normal.' Everyone will have their own unique experiences and responses but by coming together and by getting some expert advice, this adjustment can be made a lot easier and we are looking forward to helping people who have been through cancer treatment not only to survive but also to thrive," she noted.

Roisin Dunne is a cancer survivor who attended one of the Survive and Thrive courses earlier this year. She found it ‘hugely helpful' to know she was not alone and that other people were going through similar experiences. She also benefitted from the expert advice.

"The expert advice was something that is badly needed and, in my opinion, a really necessary part of the healing process. It's important to not only survive, but thrive, after cancer, but we need to help and support each other through this so I would encourage anyone who is struggling in any area post-treatment to get in touch with the Marie Keating Foundation about the Survive and Thrive workshop," she said.

The workshop will be held in the Kingsley Hotel, Victoria Cross, Cork, from 6.30pm-8.30pm every Thursday for five weeks, beginning on September 17. The course is free of charge but places are limited and registration is necessary.

For details on how to register, contact Angela Egan at the Marie Keating Foundation on (01) 628 3726 or email info@mariekeating.ie.

For more information on the foundation, click here