Maggie Keswick Jencks always used to say that the news you have cancer hits you "like a punch in the stomach".

But 12 years after her death, Maggie's legacy is helping thousands of cancer sufferers roll with the punches.

Maggie Keswick Jencks was the inspiration for Maggie's Cancer Centres, a network of havens built across the country, offering support, and advice in tranquil surroundings to the victims of cancer and their families.

Oxford is already home to an interim Maggie's Centre, which is based at the Churchill Hospital and deals with 5,000 inquiries each year.

But from 2012, the city has been earmarked to host its very own state-of-the-art Maggie's Centre, like those already operating in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

It could offer free help and advice to the million people already using the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and its cancer services, and the 4,000 people newly diagnosed with cancer here each year.

All that is needed to make Oxford Maggie's a reality is £3m.

Maggie's community fundraiser Sandy Briscoe said: "We want anyone affected by cancer to have access to a unique, uplifting Maggie's Centre.

"And that is why we have launched the national Joy of Living Campaign, which aims to raise a total of £15m to build centres in Oxford, Lanarkshire, Nottingham, the North East, the Cotswolds and London.

"A Maggie's Centre is a place anyone affected by cancer can turn to for help. We are open to everyone - not just to people who have been diagnosed with cancer, but also to their families, friends and carers.

"And our programme of support is designed to give people the tools they need to cope with the major upheaval cancer causes in their lives."

Maggie's Centres offer a programme of five core elements: emotional and psychological support, relaxation and stress management, information, benefits advice and other support for living with cancer such as nutrition and groups for particular cancers.

Mrs Briscoe added: "We recognise that many people are initially overwhelmed by the enormity of a cancer diagnosis.

"But Maggie's can be a safe place where you feel supported until you feel ready to engage actively with our programme."

Kay Finn, 60, from Witney, was diagnosed with cancer in June 2007.

She underwent a lumpectomy in August and radiotherapy in October and is now waiting to hear whether she has beaten the disease.

She said: "I think it is absolutely fantastic that a Maggie's Centre is being built here in Oxford. We already have the Churchill, which is fabulous, but to have a Maggie's will make so much difference to so many families.

"When you learn you have cancer, the shock is followed by so many questions. It is also a terrible time for the sufferer's family.

"I did not go to pieces, but my three children were devastated. Having somewhere like Maggie's, where you can all go together, and get real, practical advice and support, is just invaluable.

"I hope as many people as possible will help to raise money for this great cause."

Mrs Finn's son, Matthew Claridge, 32, agreed.

"It's only been since mum's cancer that we have realised just how many people go through what we went through."

Last year, Mr Claridge raised £700 for the Maggie's charity through a sponsored parachute jump.

Maggie Keswick Jencks was born in Scotland in 1941, and later studied at Oxford University before joining the Architectural Association.

The mother-of-two was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988.

And when it returned in 1993, she was told she had only a few months to live.

She joined a trial treatment for advanced metastatic breast cancer at the Western General Hospital, in Edinburgh, which won her an extra 18 months.

But during this time, she developed strong ideas about cancer survival and noticed how much better she felt when she started to take an active role in her treatment.

Conceiving the idea for a small domestic haven which could concentrate on an individual's needs as a person, not just as a cancer patient, she put all her energies into making such a place happen.

Her husband Charles, her friends and family supported her dream.

Maggie died on July 8, 1995 - a year before the first Maggie's Centre, in Edinburgh, opened its doors. Now there are centres in Glasgow, Dundee, the Highlands, Fife and interim centres in Oxford and South West Wales.