Cancer charity's fears over fall in new clients with a recent diagnosis

By contrast, existing clients were relying on Chai more than ever because of the pressures of isolation and anxiety about their condition.

“We have been supporting them a lot more than we were before because a lot of their treatment has been put on hold — their chemotherapy might have stopped or their scans have been put back a few months.

“They’re left very worried and isolated. We’re picking up a lot of that with our counselling,” Ms Steele reported.

“With a cancer diagnosis, you can feel very out of control because life as you knew it before has been taken away.” The same could be said about the lockdown “so for a cancer patient it’s a double whammy”.

Chai currently offers its services for patients and their families over the phone or via Skype or Zoom. As well as counselling, there is meditation and yoga.“We’re also doing one-on-one exercise, which helps to empower [clients] that they’re doing something for themselves.”

It can call on some 90 counsellors and therapists and Ms Steele pointed out that “although we’re not medical, our counsellors are very experienced in dealing with trauma and grief.

“To have a shivah or a funeral with no one there can be very hard.”