Cambridge social worker calls for fairer funding to better help young cancer patients
Jane Harris was affected by costs when her son travelled to London for treatment
A social worker who supports young cancer patients in Cambridgeshire is backing a petition to help those travelling far for treatment.
Jane Harris travelled to London for her son, now in remission after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 1996, to get specialist care.
She received financial help and advice from what's now the Young Lives versus Cancer charity and helps them support young people being treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
Family living in turmoil after diagnosis
“We were living a normal family life and the diagnosis came along, which threw everything into turmoil,” Jane said.
“We had recently moved house, taken on a mortgage and had to go to London to start intensive treatment, so we were very anxious as parents to receive that diagnosis.
“We didn’t know which way it was going to go.”
Jane seeked support from CLIC Sargent, now known as Young Lives vs Cancer, in how to manage their finances which were affected because of travelling for specialist treatment.
But she hopes that with more funding secured to help ease the burden on travelling for specialist care, the charity’s work can continue making an impact.
"We felt 'how were we going to cope?'"
“We were like rabbits in the headlights at diagnosis; we felt ‘how were we going to go forward; how are we going to cope?’” Jane added.
“There had to be one wage earner, which happened to be my husband who we didn’t see (much), and we needed him, so it did take its toll in lots of different areas.
“I thought I’d like to give something back and do something similar because it had a massive impact on our lives.
“We’re having new referrals every week and we need to be fair to everybody and have those funds available so we can give to the next person or family that comes on board.”
What's the #RunningOnEmpty campaign?
The Young Lives vs Cancer charity is calling on the government to help cover the costs of travelling long distances for specialist treatment for young cancer patients.
It’s hoping the government will create a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund to ease the financial burden on children, young people and their families.
The charity found 7 in 10 young people with cancer and their families are struggling to meet travel costs during treatment, with 1 in 10 missing or delaying treatment as they're unable to afford these costs.
So far, a petition launched as part of its #RunningOnEmpty campaign has received more than 7,000 signatures on the way to the charity’s 10,000 target.
Young people with cancer and their families can find out more information on how the charity can help and sign its petition on the https://www.younglivescancer.org.uk website.