15 November 2023
We were delighted by the response to our call for young people to join the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust’s Youth Advisory Group. With nine new members on board, they will further amplify the voices of young people in everything we do, help us shape the delivery and impact of trips, and provide vital insight into how we could be more visible and relevant to more young people.
The Youth Advisory Group is made up of young people who have been or are currently being supported by the Trust after cancer treatment, and in the past, have fed into our 2023-2025 Ambitions strategy, aided our understanding of what young people of different ages want from return trips, and influenced our approach to chronic fatigue on sailing and outdoor adventures.
One of the new members is 20-year-old Georgia Leslie, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2020. She made friends for life on her sailing trip in 2022, and wants other young people to know about the positives of what life can look like after cancer.
She said: “After treatment I struggled living with the aftermath of cancer and didn’t know how to cope, but going on these trips really helped me gain comfort and understanding in life after cancer. They helped me realise I will never be back to the person I was before, but that’s ok, because me now is perfect too.
“I want other people to also realise this and help them gain understanding of themselves in life after cancer, as I don’t think it’s spoken about enough. Every young person with cancer should get an opportunity to do these trips because it helped me beyond words.”
Joining Georgia in the Youth Advisory Group are Emilia Kenworthy, Emilia Luker, Omar Rafiq, Enna Stephens, Rebecca Stranex, Matt Tozer, Helen Warner, and Emily Wright. They and the group's existing members will hold their first meeting this Saturday.
We would like to thank Dan Bishop, who is standing down from the Youth Advisory Group after almost three years as its chair; James Allitt who is leaving the group after being a member since 2019, and is looking forward to staying involved with the Trust community as a volunteer; Rosa Coker-Burnett, who was first supported by the Trust in 2009 and has devoted years to volunteering on trips and the Youth Advisory Group; and Sam Doré, whose life changed massively after sailing with the Trust and joined the group to ensure other young people experience the same transformational benefits he did.
They have been instrumental in shaping the group into how it looks today, and their efforts paved the way for today’s announcement. We are grateful for all their contributions over the years.
Read more about the importance of the Youth Advisory Group here.