20 February 2020
Sue Morgan MBE has been a long time Trust champion. A Teenage Cancer Trust Nurse Consultant at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Sue has seen first-hand the impact Trust support has on young people she works with.
So we were chuffed when she agreed to speak at our ‘Better Connections, Bigger Impact – Our Ambitions for 2020-22’ launch on World Cancer Day (4 February). It’s fair to say she had everyone hanging on her every word…
We are the frontline, the people convincing young people and their families to go sailing with the Trust. But it’s not always easy.
We can say ‘You will love it, trust me.’ Yet there can be confusion over what the Trust actually is. What’s their perception of sailing? Do they think it’s a bit ‘posh’? They question what difference going sailing is actually going to make to help them.
But the Trust does make a difference. A huge difference. We see it when they talk about it on their hospital appointments and the parents say they see it in them too.
There’s something about being on that boat which gives young people a better outlook. The sense of freedom on the water is as far as it could possibly be from lying in a hospital bed. And they always want to go back again.
Peer support is pivotal in Teenage and Young Adults cancer services. That’s why it’s wonderful that so many of the Trust’s volunteers are now young people who were supported after cancer themselves; they provide the peer support on trips.
For a young person recently off treatment, nothing is more powerful than seeing someone who’s been through the same as them four or five years down the line healthy and enjoying life. Hearing someone say ‘I used to be like you and I understand’ can transform a young person’s entire attitude towards their future.
They also feel part of a team in a way many of them will have never done before. They all have their ‘family team’, but they have been powerless in that team for a long time. On the boat they have responsibilities and are empowered as part of a new team. They gain confidence they can do things again, and if they can’t do something, well someone else can. It doesn’t matter. They all work together.
The fact that first trip is not a one off, and they can come back and continue to be supported through their recovery, is invaluable too. The Trust understands it’s a process and that can be a reassuring safety net for young people.
One of the Trust’s new Ambitions is to Be Consistent in how it communicates its purpose and values. For people like me on the frontline, this is vital in ensuring we can all confidently speak with one voice about the difference the Trust makes, so more young people are inspired to access and benefit from Trust support.