Sixteen cancer service charities will share funding from the Cancer Charities Grant Scheme, jointly backed by the Department of Health and Macmillan Cancer Support, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has announced.

The scheme is intended to enable charities and organisations in the voluntary and community sector to deliver cancer support services and projects within local communities across Northern Ireland.

During a visit to Evora Hospice in Newry, one of the successful recipients, Mr Nesbitt said the initiative had been co-designed in partnership with the Northern Ireland Cancer Charities Coalition to better target help for people throughout the region.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: "This funding scheme will help transform the lives of people living with cancer and their families, offering personalised support in a community setting. Working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support has enabled an innovative approach with the focus firmly on meeting the needs of those affected by cancer. "At the heart of this scheme is the need to move care closer to people's homes and strengthening support in communities across Northern Ireland. By empowering charities to deliver earlier, more localised support, we can help people stay well for longer and reduce avoidable pressure on hospital services.

"During my visit to the Evora Hospice, I have seen first-hand the powerful potential of community action when it comes to delivering outstanding cancer support. It is clear local charities are at the heart of it, playing an essential role alongside HSC staff and patients' friends and families. I would like to thank Macmillan Cancer Support for their generous funding; this scheme truly shows how much government and the charitable sector can achieve by working collaboratively."

Gemma Peters, Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "It's brilliant to see the first of the grants being put into action and the benefits it will bring to people with cancer in the local area. These projects announced today are exactly the kind of programmes the grant scheme was set up to fund, to ensure people with cancer receive the personalised care they need, close to home and delivered from within their communities. It's only by working together with local charities and communities that we can close some of the gaps in cancer care that we see too often today."

Funding will support services including mental health support, rehabilitation and prehabilitation, transport, awareness and education initiatives, and programmes aimed at addressing health inequalities.