Summer couldn’t be brighter with Britain’s first cancer awareness festival providing a safe space for cancer patients to support each other

I COULDN’T be happier that summer is in full swing.

I am loving the long days, the opportunities for sea swims (one of the main reasons I moved to Cornwall) and, dare I say it, Love Island on telly.

Festival season is at its peak and I am excited by the variety of field-based fun now on offer.

Every week I see friends at new galas with different themes – music is no longer the be-all and end-all of a summer weekend.

I spent last weekend in a field near Guildford sharing my story at the UK’s first cancer awareness and holistic health festival, set up by a dynamo of a girl named Sophie Trew.

Sophie was diagnosed with the blood cancer Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was 23.

While she was undergoing chemotherapy she researched other, less conventional, ways for her to get healthy. She has since shared her story with thousands.

In short, she’s pretty cool.

Her mission with Trew Fields festival was to have an open, honest and safe space for cancer patients, as well as those not yet affected, to learn about supporting yourself through cancer in a way similar to Sophie.

I know what you’re thinking – we sat around chanting and chewing on leaves. But it was anything but that.

Integrative therapy means combining the unconventional with conventional to hopefully extend your life but, at the very least, ensure you have the best possible quality of life.

There were fascinating speakers discussing supplements, novel treatments available in clinics abroad, mindfulness techniques, nutrition and exercise, basically all the good stuff.

I was so happy to be among people who understood my story and what I continue to go through as I try to understand how I can thrive.

Festivals like these are so important because for too long now cancer patients have been worried to share holistic approaches with the public.

It’s often frowned upon as money-wasting and promoting false hope. And, believe me, there are definitely people out there ready to make big bucks from hopeless cancer patients!

Trew Fields allows facts, advice and real hope. With the right information you can make informed choices.

With that in mind, I loved drinking organic wine and dancing HARD to a brass band into the wee hours.

I think I have this quality of life thing down.