Young Lives vs Cancer launches new Pride pin badges for frontline staff

Young Lives vs Cancer, the UK’s leading charity for children and young people with cancer, has created a bespoke pin badge using the Pride flag colours for the charity’s frontline staff to wear. The charity hopes this will help open up conversations with young people and families and create a greater sense of belonging and inclusion for those in LGBTQIA+ communities.

Last year during Pride, Young Lives vs Cancer asked its social media followers to vote for their favourite design for the new pin badge. The winning design, a V shape designed with the Pride flag colours, has since been made for its frontline staff to wear and added to its online shop for supporters to purchase.

The pin badge is now available for all of the charity’s frontline staff to wear, which includes their specialist social workers and Home from Home staff. Young Lives vs Cancer social workers are there for children and young people with cancer and their families from the moment of diagnosis to help navigate cancer and everything it throws at them. This includes liaising with employers and schools, helping to access financial support and generally being a listening ear to turn to. Young Lives vs Cancer also has eleven Homes from Home across the UK, a free place for families to stay nearby to the hospital. The badges will be made available for all Home from Home staff to wear too.

The introduction of the new pin badges is the next step on the charity’s mission to create an inclusive organisation for everyone who interacts with Young Lives vs Cancer.

Young Lives vs Cancer social worker Lyn Soh, who supports young people having cancer treatment at the Royal Marsden hospital in London, was first to receive one of the charity’s Pride pin badges. She has been wearing a rainbow badge for a while and has seen the positive impact this has on young people with cancer she supports, so is looking forward to having a bespoke badge for Young Lives vs Cancer staff.

Lyn says: “Having cancer and going through treatment is a scary enough experience without having to worry about what others might think of you, and every single LGBT+ person has to essentially ‘come out’ to each new person they speak to at some point. I hope that our new badge will help young people to feel confident to have more open and honest conversations with us, as we support them while facing cancer.”

Young Lives vs Cancer hopes that by creating its own bespoke pin badge, young people facing cancer and family members from LGBTQIA+ communities will feel more of a sense of belonging.

Kei-Retta Farrell, Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Young Lives vs Cancer, says: “The launch of our new Pride pin badges for Young Lives vs Cancer frontline staff is a great step forward in our mission to create an inclusive organisation for anyone who interacts with us.

“We hope the new badge will help to open up conversations with young people and families from LGBTQIA+ communities and help people to feel less alone.”