ABOUT ESCA >HISTORY

The idea of establishing a support group came from William Faulkner, an American living in Geneva. He was suffering from cancer, felt very alone and didn't feel his command of French was good enough to join a French speaking support group. He therefore wanted to establish a group in Geneva where people could express their feelings in English in a confidential supportive environment. His counsellor at the time was Andi Billington. In June 1999, Andi together with Liz Rollinson-Phillips, a student counsellor, started to work on making his dream come true.

In September 1999, an administration group met for the first time at the American Church in Geneva. They were 6 people all wanting to help in some way to make this idea come to fruition.

Over a period of time the group worked on:

• Publicity (brochure, flyer, radio announcements);
• Gaining the support of oncologists, social assistants;
• Finding suitable premises;
• Contacting similar groups in UK for information;
• Gathering information/books for their library;
• Establishing the group as a charitable association.

On 6th April 2000, an Extraordinary meeting was held to elect a committee and draw up the statutes required to establish the group as a charitable association. From this meeting came the idea of establishing a website.

On the 10th of February, 2004, another Extraordinary meeting was held to change the name of the the group, then The English-speaking Cancer Support Group, to the English Speaking Cancer Association and new statutes were drawn up.

The ideals of the association have remained the same:
To provide emotional support, practical help and information in English to those touched by cancer in the Geneva, Vaud and French border areas.