As if a cancer diagnosis isn’t tough enough, the financial impact of cancer can be devastating. Research shows parents spend an average of £600 more every month when their child has cancer. Travel for treatment, hotels, extra heating costs at home. It soon adds up. Young Lives vs Cancer care teams work with young people and families to help them get essential financial support including grants.

Treatment is exhausting and often happens for months at a time, far away from home. Young Lives vs Cancer’s nursing teams can provide personal care and support at home, or arrange for treatment to be given closer to home. They also have Young Lives vs Cancer Homes from Home close to hospitals, where families can stay during treatment for free. These reduce the financial cost and emotional impact of cancer, keeping families together when it matters most.

Cancer shatters young cancer patients’ education, social lives and future prospects. Young Lives vs Cancer help them get their lives back on track, both during and after treatment. They support young cancer patients emotionally – building their resilience so they can continue to learn, regain their confidence and be inspired to think beyond cancer. Young Lives vs Cancer help them keep in touch with friends, organising work at home and helping schools prepare for when a child goes back to school.

Hearing your child isn’t going to get better is every parent’s worst nightmare. Young Lives vs Cancer help young cancer patients and families prepare for death, if the unthinkable happens. They encourage parents and carers to think about how the young person can be remembered and help them deal with their worries. Their care teams provide bereavement support through home visits, local groups and memory days helping young people and their families find a way to cope with the emotional pain.

Too often, young cancer patients and their families don’t get the support they need from the government. Young Lives vs Cancer listen to them, basing their research and campaigning on what patients tell them to make the right change happen. And then they fight on their behalf. They do this through extensive campaigning for policy change and raise awareness of children and young people’s experiences and champion their voices to politicians and decision makers across the UK.