01 April 2026
Teenagers and young adults with cancer have unique needs and require age-appropriate care - yet they are too often overlooked in healthcare systems designed for children or older adults.
At a time when they should be building independence, forming relationships, continuing their education, and shaping their future, they are instead facing the reality of cancer. Speaking up for the care they need isn’t always easy - that’s why advocacy matters.
This Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month, we’re joining forces as 22 charities with one shared mission: to make sure young people’s voices are heard and that they receive the specialist cancer care they need and deserve. Because it can be frustrating being a young person who’s had cancer and often, it feels like other people just don’t get it.
So this month, we’re handing the mic to the people who know what it’s really like. Sometimes the most powerful way to understand something is to hear it directly from those who’ve lived it.
What do you wish people knew about having cancer as a young person?Young people supported by the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust are sharing the honest, unfiltered truths about life after cancer. Here’s what Rosa, Adil, Tegan and Ambrose want you to know...
"We're still just young people. Like, yeah, we've been through this horrible thing. But we still have the same interests. We still just wanna hang out with our friends. You don't have to be scared of us. You don't have to be scared of what to say. Even just saying you don’t know what to say is better than hiding away and pretending that it didn't happen or just avoiding us." Rosa
"Just treat us like normal people. Don't feel like you have to watch what you say. If you want to ask questions, ask and get to know about us and what we've gone thorugh." Adil
"It's a constant battle every day, even if you're years off treatment. Cancer is just not when you have it, it's the after effects other people don't think about. I've got my life back on track but still don't feel the same as people my age." Tegan
"The transition to normal life is the hardest part. You've been away for so long, your friends don't undersrtand and you're more mature than them because you understand life so much more." Ambrose
To create a community where young people can navigate the challenges of life through and beyond cancer with others who just get it.
If you know a young person who's been through cancer treatment, please share this with them or refer them to one of our sailing trips. And if that young person is you, know that there is a community waiting. No one should have to figure this out alone.
Find out more and sign up for a life-changing adventure here