FOR 15 years Cancercareline has offered 24-hour a day help and support to sufferers of the disease.

Clients - they are 'patients' - may have cancer, have survived it or be caring for a relative with it. Whatever their needs, there is always someone to listen.

It's something clients cannot speak of highly enough. They often refer to the charity as their "saviour".

Corinne Dunstone has attended Tuesday's afternoon support groups for six months. "I live on my own. The worst time is the nights," she said.

"You don't like to telephone family or friends at 2am, you feel you are being a nuisance, but there's always someone here for me. It's excellent."

The charity has a helpline available all hours, as well as offering individual counselling sessions and support groups which meet each week.

Jan Sutton, of Monmouth, approached Cancercareline after having a mastectomy when she developed breast cancer ten years ago. "My feminine confidence had gone, and they helped me through that."

She adds that people's reaction to her cancer had been interesting. "I told one woman that I was going to have my breast off next week and she said, 'Oh, we're going to Bermuda'!" she laughs. "It's a good thing we still have our sense of humour."

There is a great deal of laughter at the centre - but they are very serious about finding a new home.

Co-ordinator Jean Edmunds - one of two paid staff helped by 30 volunteers - has run the charity for seven years. She says they desperately need a new base, partly because of the dilapidated state of the temporary building, which has leaks in the roof and no ventilation, and partly because they need more space.

"Because the building does not have solid walls there are limited appointments for confidential counselling. This creates waiting lists and is not the continuity of service we desire," she says.

She was "gutted" when Caerphilly council announced its intention to sell a house in Woodbine Road to a housing association, for use as a hostel for vulnerable young people.

The large house was a perfect town-centre spot for a base, she says, allowing the charity to develop its plan to extend services.

Now Mrs Edmunds has sent a report about Cancercareline to the council, after it decided to defer the final decision on the house and consult with Woodbine Road residents, who objected to the hostel plan.

She is hoping her four-page report might help finally secure a new home for Cancercareline.