The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is a national organisation that gives young people between the ages of 8-24 who are in recovery from cancer the opportunity to take part in the new and fantastic experience of sailing.  The majority of our young people who sail for the first time have finished treatment and are in the process of putting their lives back together.  These young people are recruited by our contact (usually a nurse or Clic Sargent social worker) at the hospital or group we work with, as they are more involved with the young people at the hospitals and so aware of who would benefit the most from the trip.  Those aged 8-17 can continue to sail with the Trust up until their 18th birthday, and we try and invite those aged 18-24 to return to sail at least once.  After this, many will continue sailing with the Trust as volunteers.

The Trust was launched by the internationally-renowned sailor Ellen MacArthur on 2nd January 2003. In Ellen’s words:

“These are really special kids. In many ways they are just they same as everyone else, they are interested in the same things as kids their age, they have the same goals in life, but the difference is that they do this with a huge challenge ahead of them.

I face challenges out on the water, but these are challenges that I choose to do. They on the other hand don’t have this luxury. They battle against something harder than many of us could ever imagine and they do it with the biggest smiles on their faces. To me they are truly inspirational and if the Trust can help them in their battle in any way then that is a fantastic achievement.”

We now work with every young persons primary cancer care unit in the UK.  These primary care units deal with around 95% of young people being treated for cancer in the UK, so working with these key hospitals gives us the greatest opportunity to allow the young people to find out and sign up for our sailing trips.

Hospitals and Groups we work with:
Great Ormond Street, London (GOS)
Southampton General Hospital
University College Hospitals London (UCLH)
Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children, Belfast (NICFC)
Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham
CLIC Sargent Bristol
The Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton
Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge
Birmingham Childrens Hospital
CLIC Sargent Scotland
CLIC Sargent Cardiff
St James Hospital, Leeds
Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital
Sheffield Children’s Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
Leicester Children’s Hospital
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool
Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro
CLIC Sargent North Region

Our vision is to continue to grow and increase the number of young people we work with, whilst ensuring that the quality of our work remains at a high standard and every young person gets as much out of their time with the Trust as possible.