Today, and every day, seven young people in the UK aged 13-24 will hear the words “you have cancer”.
What happens next can affect them for the rest of their lives.
Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity providing specialised nursing care and support for young people with cancer. The charity is there for anyone diagnosed with cancer aged 13-24, and their loved ones too. Teenage Cancer Trust’s specially trained nurses and youth workers support young people with cancer every step of the way – from the moment they’re diagnosed, through to helping them rebuild their lives after treatment.
In the South and Southeast of England alone around 373 young lives are impacted by cancer each year. In the South of England not all young people are able to choose to be treated at their specialist unit in the Principal Cancer Centre for the region which is in Southampton General Hospital. Long travelling times, transport costs and removing them from their support network is why, in many regions, over half of young people opt to receive all, or part of their treatment locally.
The JTCT donation has helped to secure the vital role of their Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nikki, who is based at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth to continue. Nikki travels to homes and hospitals across Hampshire to make sure that every young person facing a cancer diagnosis can access the specialist support they need.
Their nurses have time to know a young person and their needs. They provide, advice, advocacy and emotional support, including sign posting to additional services, for example phycologists. They are there to support patients and their families, from diagnosis, through treatment and for two years post treatment.
They also help young people manage the impact of cancer on family and friends and connect them with others their age going through cancer too, so they don’t feel alone. They also support young people to keep up with their studies, careers and life goals, to get them back where they want to be once treatment ends.
The James Tuttiett Charitable Trust was delighted to support in a small capacity to ensure that no young person in Hampshire faces the trauma of cancer alone.
If you would like to find out more about the incredible work Teenage Cancer Trust does in supporting young people with cancer, please visit
http://teenagecancertrust.org
