17 May 2018
Today, 11 more children and young people will hear the shattering news that they have cancer. Only after treatment ends, and the doctors and nurses have done their work, can a young person start rebuilding their lives.
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust fills a unique role, focusing on young people from 8-24, who are in post-treatment from cancer. The Trust provides a lifeline after treatment to start re-building their lives and confidence, using sailing as a mechanism for this.
As the Trust celebrates their 15th anniversary this summer, players of People’s Postcode Lottery continue to be a critical part of the charity’s success in helping more young people go on to achieve in education, employment, and, ultimately, life after the total devastation of cancer.
Since their first trip in 2002, where a small group of five young people went sailing, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s reach has grown enormously, thanks to the incredible £1.85 million in funding received since 2010.
Last year the Trust set sail on their most ambitious voyage yet, Round Britain 2017 this provided an amazing opportunity for the charity to raise their profile while visiting 58 ports and 13 hospitals. The Trust is now proud to work with every young person’s oncology unit in the UK, which has only been made possible thanks to the unrestricted regular funding received from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
2018 marks a special year for the Trust as it plans to take a record number of 663 young people on trips this coming summer, which wouldn’t be possible without the additional grant received, which enabled the Trust to purchase two new, uniquely adapted boats – Solent Hero and Caledonian Hero.
The four-day sailing trips are a unique and life-changing experience for the young people who join them, but they are about much more than just sailing. “Sailing is just a vehicle”, says Trust founding Patron Dame Ellen MacArthur. “It’s about regaining your life. The joy of the trips is over-whelming, there are always transformations. We are enormously grateful for the ongoing support from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery.”
For the young people that join the Trust, the four-day sailing trips on the south coast and from the charity’s northern base on the west coast of Scotland are life-changing.
“After treatment, many of us feel like we’ve been dropped and find it hard to be able to get back to where we were and feel ‘accepted’ by society once again.
Thankfully, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust help to pick us up after this dramatic ‘drop,’ the Trust helps teens re-build their confidence and most importantly helps teach us teens to love ourselves again. I can’t thank them enough” 16 year old, Emily.
