It is a frightening statistic that one in three people will, at some point in their lives, suffer from cancer. 

There can be few people whose lives have not been touched in some way by this disease and that is why I was pleased to help launch a joint project between our local Citizens' Advice Bureaux and Macmillan Cancer Relief.

The project aims to help cancer sufferers who may be worried how they will make ends meet. CAB project workers will visit cancer patients in their homes, providing advice on matters such as benefit entitlements, employment issues and carers rights.

Macmillan has provided funding for a project worker in Diss for three years, with partial funding for another two years.  Two more project workers will be based in Attleborough and Thetford.

This is a most worthwhile scheme and I wish Diss CAB and Macmillan every success.

A quiet success

Last week I visited Anglia Farmers, which has quietly grown into a significant local success story, using its buying power to secure good deals for members and, in effect, operating as an extension of its members' farm offices.

Anglia Farmers can source pretty much anything anyone in agriculture could need, from fuel to fertiliser, even mobile phones and internet access. They pass on everything they source at cost, charging membership fees and a levy rate.

This kind of co-operation is surely the way ahead and I congratulate chief executive Clarke Willis and his team on building a real success story. Farmers who wish to join should ask an existing member for more details.

Let small businesses get on with the job

A short time ago, I visited The Nunnery, a care home for the elderly in Diss, as part of an initiative by the Federation of Small Businesses to demonstrate how red tape is making life difficult for small firms.

Small business owners are increasingly besieged by regulations and strangled by red tape. For example, the average small business owner spends 28 hours per month filling in forms, time they can't really afford.

Jane Mewse, who runs The Nunnery, told me about the overwhelming bureaucracy she has to deal with.

Regulation should be about identifying cowboy operators and protecting the public, not about making it almost impossible to run a business.

I will continue to work in Parliament to free small businesses from unnecessary red tape.