Help children with cancer

When a child is diagnosed with cancer life becomes full of fear, for them and their family. Fear of treatment, but also of families being torn apart, overwhelming money worries, of having nowhere to turn, no one to talk to.

Why is cancer in children different from cancer in adults?

Children and young people with cancer need special treatment because their cancer is different to adults’ and it can only be treated in certain hospitals, many miles from home. 71% of young people and families say they are struggling to meet the costs of travelling to treatment.

How prevalent is cancer in children?

Although survival rates are over 80%, cancer remains the single largest cause of death from disease in children and young people in the UK.

The impact of cancer on young lives is far more than medical. Their anxieties are deep. Their education, mental health and social lives suffer. Their future feels very uncertain.

This Christmas, you could help a family stay in a Home from Home close to specialist cancer treatment centres. You can help a family be together this winter.

What Young Lives vs Cancer Do

Today, 12 children and young people will hear the news that they have cancer. In an instant, their whole world can feel like it’s turned upside down.

Playtime is stopped. Independence is taken. Confidence is stolen. It can result in years of education missed, careers put on hold just as they’re starting. It’s watching countless opportunities pass by as debt begins to pile up. The impact of cancer on young lives is more than medical. That’s why we exist.

Young Lives vs Cancer is the only charity in the UK with specialist social workers who provide tailored support to children and young people with cancer, and their families.  We help them to navigate the emotional and practical impact of cancer. And we stop at nothing to make their voices heard and their unique needs understood, so they can get the right care and support at the right time.