Cancer is a word that brings with it such a wide and scary range of really intense emotions, whether it’s worry or confusion, or upset, or even dread. I know when we learnt of my mother’s diagnosis with ovarian cancer we went through all those emotions and a whole lot more and we weren’t even the ones suffering from the disease and facing the treatment.

That is why, for me, cancer treatment is such a deeply personal issue. But I imagine that will be the case for many of you reading this. You will know of someone who has faced a cancer diagnosis, you will know someone whose loved ones are dealing with cancer treatment now. You may even be going through treatment yourself.

One of the achievements I am most proud of is the success of our campaign to get the chemotherapy unit at Westmorland General Hospital. Since it was opened six years ago hundreds of people have benefited from treatment there. But I always said that until we also get a radiotherapy unit at the hospital the job is only part done.

Currently, people needing radiotherapy treatment not only face the emotional and physical challenges that cancer brings, they can also face a two to three-hour daily round trip down to Preston. I have nothing against Preston but for me it verges on cruelty to ask someone going through all the challenges associated with cancer to get in their car and drive down the M6 to get the treatment they need there. The National Radiotherapy Advisory Group recommends that no one is more than 45 minutes from a treatment unit.

Back in 2015 when we were in the coalition government, I managed to persuade the then treasury minister to provide the £12m needed to build the unit. But then we had the General Election and within months the Conservative government had cancelled the plans.

However, the need is still there and I am more determined than ever fight for the unit to be built. Which is why I have relaunched my campaign to get the funding we need. As part of this I have launched a petition calling on NHS England to develop plans to build the unit. If you would like to support us (please, please do) just search on “Tim Farron Radiotherapy” on the internet and follow the links that come up. So far several thousand of you have signed the petition but we need more.

The initial signs are actually looking quite good. NHS England is consulting now on how radiotherapy treatment should be handled in this country, if you want you can express your views on their website, and last year they announced a £130m investment in radiotherapy equipment.

As part of the campaign this Friday I am holding a special drop in session at CancerCare on Blackhall Road in Kendal to listen to what people have to tell me about their cancer issues. You are more than welcome to come along but at the very least please sign the petition.