What is ‘Voice’ at Young Lives vs Cancer?

Voice is a crucial part of our work here at Young Lives vs Cancer – We know children, young people and their families with lived experience of cancer are the best people to guide and shape the work we do and tell us what needs to improve within the cancer system.

What do you mean by voice?
Voice is how we bring young people with lived experience of cancer as a child or young person and their families into our work and decision making here at Young Lives vs Cancer. It describes the different ways we work together through listening, responding and acting on the experiences shared. We are committed to collaborating with, and championing the people we support, amplifying their voices and creating meaningful change for all living with, or after cancer.

How can I get involved?
There are two main ways of getting involved in voice activities at Young Lives vs Cancer. We have our Voice Board which is part of our governance. This dedicated volunteer role is part of a team who bring their lived experience to shape what we do and ensure our trustee’s and exec team are influenced by the most important people, young people affected by cancer and their parents and siblings. The team ensures that decision-makers understand the impact of decisions on our community. This is a two year role and we recruit each summer. You can find out more here.

Then we have our Voice Hub. This is our community of young people, parents, siblings and partners aged 16+ who want to hear more about our voice work and use their experiences to take part in voice activities flexibly. Signing up involves receiving a monthly email which shares all the different ways you can get involved in our work across the charity and across the sector. This includes anything from taking part in a short survey, feeding into research projects, creating content to help raise awareness on social media or attending focus groups to discuss important issues or new ideas. There’s no commitment and members can take part in opportunities as and when it works for them as well as hearing about the work that’s taking place, and the difference our community is making.

Why should I take part?

Our Voice Hub is a small but mighty community that’s growing all the time. We need to hear lots of different voices and experiences to understand what’s going on across the UK and what needs to change. Whether you are currently on treatment or diagnosed as a child 10+ years ago, a parent, sibling or partner, you all have experiences to share that can help us work together towards our North Star Vision. You’ll have the opportunity to take part in training and connect with others, using your experiences to improve things for other families facing cancer.

If you are interested in getting involved we’d love to hear from you, find out more here or reach out to our voice team at voice@younglivesvscancer.org.uk.