Charity Of The Year
Teenage Cancer Trust is the only UK charity providing specialised nursing care and support for young people with cancer. They fund specialist nurses, youth workers, and hospital units within the NHS and are there for anyone diagnosed with cancer aged 13-24, as well as their loved ones.
The charity exists because cancer care wasn’t designed for young people. Without Teenage Cancer Trust, a young person diagnosed with cancer today could find themselves treated alongside small children or much older adults.
You only get one chance at being young, and those years shape the person you become. Friendships, mental health, body image, studies, work, relationships, and choices about the future are hard enough to navigate – even before a cancer diagnosis shatters everything.
Suddenly, young people can feel set apart from their peers who don’t understand what cancer is like. Life becomes a cycle of appointments, with the future on hold. Many start to rely on parents or carers again, feel like they’re losing their identity, and fear for their lives.
Teenage Cancer Trust is there so that no young person has to face cancer alone.
Their units don’t feel like traditional hospital wards – they’re bright, contemporary spaces where young people can welcome family and friends and be treated alongside others their own age.
Their specialist nurses provide world-class medical care while also addressing the emotional, social, and practical challenges young people face. With smaller caseloads, they can spend more time with each young person, building trust and offering a consistent, reassuring presence. They can even help arrange things like blood tests closer to home, saving time and travel.
And Youth Support Coordinators are vital team members ensuring young people feel seen and supported as individuals, with whatever is on their mind. They go beyond the clinical, offering essential emotional and practical help during and after treatment. These professionals ensure young people don’t get lost in the system and are aware of the support available across the country.
None of this would be possible without donations from the public. Support is vital in making sure Teenage Cancer Trust can continue to be there for every young person who needs them.
