A NATIONAL cancer charity has said it will not be reopening its Hereford centre as it's been sold off "to generate much-needed cash".

Based in St Owen’s Street, Breast Cancer Haven has provided support to anyone affected by the disease since 2004, but the charity has confirmed the centre is now permanently shut.

Breast Cancer Haven's income was "severely impacted" by the coronavirus pandemic, and the lockdowns and restrictions which followed, and the Hereford hub needed to be sold to keep the charity afloat.

In July, the charity said fundraising roles were being lost at the centre, but it said it hoped it would be able to reopen the site – something it will now not do.

The charity said on its website: "Unfortunately, the financial impact of Covid-19 has affected the charity sector and we are no exception.

"Our fundraising income has fallen by two thirds and as a consequence, we have had to significantly lower our costs. This includes a reduction in permanent staff and we have been very sad to say goodbye to many wonderful colleagues.

"Also, our physical Breast Cancer Haven centres have been impacted and we have recently made the difficult decision to sell our Hereford centre to generate much-needed cash to sustain the charity moving forward. Our West Midlands and Wessex centres are already for sale and our centre in Leeds is closed and not operating."

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Since the first lockdown was imposed on March 23, the charity has moved its services online, and has provided more than 7,500 appointments to more than 2,500 people affected by breast cancer.

It added: "Post Covid-19, we intend to continue with this new model of live online support but in addition to this, we intend to operate from outreach locations across the country where we can provide acupuncture and hands-on therapies in local areas as we know how vital these services are.

"The rollout of these will be both funding and Covid-19 dependent. As you can see, this pandemic has forced us to remodel our services to one with lower overheads."

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