People are being encouraged to support a Bristol cancer charity – by helping them pave a path.

Penny Brohn Cancer Care in Pill, is launching a new fundraising initiative to raise £1 million so they can help more people with the disease.

The Celebration Pathway appeal will give people the opportunity to buy a lasting tribute to a loved one or leave a message of support for the people who use the service.

For a donation of £50 to £500, individuals, families or community groups can purchase one of the stones that will pave the path.

Penny Brohn Cancer Care, formerly the Bristol Cancer Help Centre, is known across the world for the way it encourages the use of complementary therapies to help people living with cancer.

They have developed the Bristol Approach, which combines counselling, nutrition and a range of therapies.

Work is funded by voluntary income.

It is hoped that the Celebration Pathway appeal will raise enough money to more than double the number of people Penny Brohn can support.

Head of fundraising, Kate Collins, said: "We are about working with people at every step of their cancer journey.

"They might use it for a bit, go somewhere else and come back a few years later. It is quite symbolic but also a great way for the community having a permanent part of the centre.

"People do not have to have used the centre to buy part of the pathway and the more money we raise, the more services we can offer locally.

"Everything penny Brohn does is about supporting people affected by cancer. They do not have to have cancer. It could be a wife, brother, or sister, someone with cancer."

Penny Brohn has Cancerpoint, a free drop-in service, and residential courses used by people from Bristol and beyond, which people have to pay towards.

Mrs Collins said that the organisation, whose patron is Prince Charles, is looking to offer an open residential programme where people can stay at the building on the former Ham Green Hospital site without being booked onto a formal course.

She said: "Once people have had a chance to find out what we are about they can work out how it is going to work for them.

"We would be able to offer just the use of the building, which is so relaxing and tranquil and a fantastic place for people to take some time for themselves and get support as they need it.

"The pathway is an important part of us being able to generate the money, work with the local community and expand services locally.

"The overall ambition is that no one would have to pay a fee.

"If people cannot afford to come here we never turn them away, it is about being able to offer flexibility."

One of the people who has benefited from Penny Brohn is Fiona Pearce, from Keynsham, who used their services after developing stage 3 bowel cancer in 2005.

The 37-year-old said: "During my time at the charity's centre in Pill, I learned everything I needed to know about changing my lifestyle, including how to prepare nutritious food which supports my immune system, how to adopt relaxation techniques and how to talk through what I was experiencing.

"After starting on this new journey, I experienced a huge difference to the way that I was feeling – I felt healthier, more energetic and as a result I coped better with living with cancer."

Mrs Collins is keen that the pathway should be something positive and said people should not be afraid to put down quirky messages or in-jokes.

She said: "It does not just have to be in memory of someone, we want the path to be uplifting. People might want to put quirky messages on. We are fully welcoming a bit of humour.

"It does not just have to be names and dates. It would be a great gift to somebody to be a permanent piece of this."