Maggie's Centres

Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres are a network of day-care centres in the United Kingdom, which aim to help anyone who has, or has had cancer, as well as their family and friends. They are not intended as a replacement for conventional cancer therapy, but as a caring environment that can provide advice for a healthy body and mind. They are located nearby but separate from existing NHS hospitals.

The charity which promotes, builds and runs the centres was founded by and named after the late Maggie Keswick Jencks, who died of cancer herself in 1995. Like her husband, architectural theorist Charles Jencks, she believed in the ability of buildings to uplift people. Consequently, the buildings have been designed by leading architects, including Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid.

Patrons of the charity include Frank Gehry, a personal friend of Maggie Keswick, Jon Snow, Kirsty Wark, and Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Edinburgh
The first Maggie's Centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996, and is located within the Western General Hospital at Crewe Road. The centre is housed in a converted stable block. The conversion, designed by Richard Murphy, was nominated for 1997 Stirling Prize. The centre was extended, again by Murphy, in 1999.

Glasgow
The Maggie's Centre in Glasgow is located at the Beatson Oncology Centre on Dumbarton Road, near the Kelvingrove Museum. The centre is housed in a former gatehouse lodge, renovated and altered by architects Page and Park. Charles Jencks designed the landscaping around the site, and contributed a DNA sculpture for the garden.

Dundee
Frank Gehry's first building in the United Kingdom was the Maggie's Centre at Dundee. The centre opened on 25 September 2003 at Ninewells Hospital. Gehry's design was named "Building of the Year" by the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland, and was also nominated for the 2004 RIAS Award for Architecture.

Inverness
The Maggie's Centre in Inverness, Highlands, is at Raigmore Hospital, and was designed by Page and Park. Landscape design and sculptures were again the work of Charles Jencks. The building opened in 2005, and won the 2006 RIAS Award for Architecture.

Oxford
The first Maggie's Centre in England opened at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford in 2003, when the charity took over running of the existing cancer support centre. In 2007 a new, purpose-built Maggie's Centre will open.

Kirkcaldy
The Maggie's Centre at Kirkcaldy, Fife, opened in November 2006 at the Victoria Hospital. The building was designed by Zaha Hadid, and is her first built work in the UK.

Planned centres
A further six Maggie's Centres are currently being planned.
 * Cambridge, at Addenbrooke's Hospital, to be designed by Daniel Libeskind
 * Cheltenham, at Cheltenham Hospital, to be designed by Sir Richard MacCormac
 * London, at Charing Cross Hospital, designed by Richard Rogers
 * Nottingham, at Nottingham Hospital, to be designed by Piers Gough
 * Wishaw, Lanarkshire, at the Wishaw General Hospital
 * Swansea