Her Majesty The Queen met people living with cancer earlier this week when she officially opened Maggie’s Royal Free, a new cancer support centre at the Royal Free Hospital, London.

Her Majesty, President of the cancer support charity, met people living with cancer, staff and supporters of the charity in the new centre designed by internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind of Studio Libeskind.

Delivered by our Special Projects team, this important resource in the centre of London offers free support to anyone living with cancer.

The Queen spoke to visitors who have been supported by the charity to hear their experiences of cancer, diagnosis and how visiting Maggie’s has helped them and their families.

One of the people who met Her Majesty was Katie Georgiou, 28, from North London. Katie was diagnosed with Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in April 2022 and has visited Maggie's interim centre for benefits advice, art therapy, yoga, Nordic walking and psychological support.

We were delighted to once again welcome Her Majesty The Queen to open our newest purpose built centre at the Royal Free Hospital. Her Majesty’s commitment to raising awareness of the support we offer at Maggie’s is invaluable at a time when people with cancer need our support so much.
Dame Laura Lee, DBE Chief Executive, Maggie's

It was such an honour to meet and speak to Her Majesty The Queen at the beautiful new Maggie’s centre. Finding Maggie’s is like finding a new friendship that makes you into a new person because it opens new doors inside of you. To now have this amazing centre to come to makes a huge difference in contrast to the clinical surroundings of the hospital.
Katie Georgiou

The centre offers free support to anyone living with cancer, their family and friends and is based in the grounds of the Royal Free Hospital, which is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (RFL), one of the largest providers of cancer treatment in the UK. Maggie’s work will complement the treatments received by people of all ages and with any type of cancer at the Royal Free Hospital and from London and the surrounding areas. The RFL receives nearly 50,000 cancer referrals annually. An interim Maggie’s centre has been supporting people on site since 2016.

The centre has been designed to be a breathing space away from the hospital, a home away from home. Its design draws people in with an approachable and undulating timber form. The exterior's folds and curves create a calm and peaceful interior offering privacy, light, and shade. To make the best use of the centre's site within the hospital grounds, the footprint of the ground-floor is small, and the building then expands as it rises. An elevated deck on the roof level creates a serene and private enclosure and skylights flood the lower levels with light from the roof deck.

The centre sits on the grounds of the Royal Free Hospital and can be found at the bottom end of Rowland Hill Street, less than a minute’s walk from the Rowland Hill Street entrance.

Visitors will be able to talk to professional, expert staff, from cancer support specialists to psychologists and benefits advisors, or share experiences with others in a similar situation. We also have professional sessional staff who provide sessions on yoga, relaxation and nutrition and cancer workshops. No appointment or referral is needed, and all support is free.

Maggie's Royal Free

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Find out more about our partnership with Maggie's

Our corporate partnership

It’s more than a decade since we started working with Maggie’s, as well as constructing many of its centres, we've raised more than £1,000,000 for the charity.

Maggies cancer care centres

Engineering Excellence for Maggie’s first Cancer Care Centre in Wales

Our expertise overcame a challenging design to deliver this unique healthcare project at Singleton Hospital, Swansea.

Cancer care centre Maggie’s, Swansea

Innovation key to delivering Maggie’s at The Christie

Our construction knowledge and know-how was key in helping realise the complex architectural vision for Maggie’s at The Christie in Manchester.

Maggies Cancer Care Centre, Manchester

Heritage and complex projects expertise delivers Maggie’s Barts

Our Special Projects delivered this technically complex healthcare project within live hospital campus and protected it’s Grade I listed neighbours.

Cancer care centre Maggie’s, Barts

Enabling Maggie’s to support cancer care at The Royal Marsden

Careful planning and meticulous collaboration allowed us to complete this design-led scheme on a busy working hospital site.

Maggie’s Royal Marsden

A truly extraordinary building for Maggie's Yorkshire

Built amongst a cluster of medical buildings at St James’ University Hospital in Leeds, Maggie’s Yorkshire is a cancer care centre like no other.

Maggie's Cancer Care Centre, Yorkshire

Delivering award winning Maggie's Southampton

Our Special Projects team delivered this verdant ‘New Forest’ inspired Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres at Southampton’s General Hospital.

Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre, Southampton

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