A GROUP which battles cancer isolation has been set up to give survivors company and a space to have a 'girly' night out.

The group was organised by Rachel Cardy, who spoke to a lot of cancer patients as she is a hairdresser who specialises in wigs and hair loss.

Their consensus was that they needed somewhere to feel 'girly' again, so Rachel set up the Romsey-based "Staying Strong" class.

The 62-year-old said: "It started about this time last year, there were hardly any support groups in Romsey so I wanted to make one.

"The first one went really well, I managed to pack 25 ladies in my front room - it was an amazing evening."

Rachel, from Romsey, hosts around five events every year, her most recent one was this month and Caroline Nokes attended.

She said it was great for Ms Nokes to come along.

Rachel said: "It was an amazing and emotional evening last night as it was the last one of the year.

"We raised £245 last night making our first years total to £1,095 and with all the enthusiasm we are all looking forward to 2020."

The money raised go to Romsey charity, the Jane Scarth House.

Staying Strong has also had support from companies including John Lewis, which has meant food, goody bags and more has been provided to guests.

Rachel, who works at Hot Heads hair salon in Chandler's Ford, added: "They have been so helpful - they couldn't do more.

"These evenings make ladies feel like women again."

She added: "I am still going to carry on doing hairdressing and hopefully one day I can share other people what I do and more people how they can be like me.

"It has taken years to get to this point."

If you are interested in joining an event in 2020, contact Rachel on her Rachel Cardy Hairdressing Facebook page, or Staying Strong Facebook page.