News Beat
How you can help young people fighting cancer this Christmas
“That’s why I became a nurse,” she says. “The chance to reach out and help people is a huge privilege for me.
“Every patient, every family member, they are all different but the threat running through it all is that they need our help at a critical time. That’s a massive responsibility and I am so grateful that they turn to me. What I do comes from my
heart.”
Hanna has been a nurse for 24 years, the last 12 years as a lead nurse for the Teenage Cancer Trust working for a large NHS hospital in the North-West of England.
Her role is funded by the Teenage Cancer Trust. The charity provides specialist nurses and other support staff, including Youth Support Coordinators, who work within NHS hospitals and units to provide expert care and support for young people with cancer. The organisation works in partnership with the NHS to fund these posts, either fully or partly, in order to give young people the specific support they need.
The Teenage Cancer Trust also provides help and advice for families. This ranges from communication with schools or employers, to emotional support, and end-of-life care.
Hanna provides the human link between the scary-sounding cancer treatments – the chemotherapy drugs, the radiotherapy and the inevitable side-effects – and the young person struggling to come to terms with the most devastating diagnosis: that they have cancer at a time when so much of their life is still ahead of them.
Teenage Cancer Trust Nurses throughout the country are experts in caring for young people with cancer. They’re specially trained in how cancer affects teenagers and young adults and understand how to support them with the impact on their emotions, friendships, studies, work and relationships – as well as providing world-class medical care.
Generally, they have smaller caseloads than typical nurses, so they have the extra time to get to know young people as a person, not a patient, and can tailor their care and support specially for them and their families.
But getting so close to a young person is not without its challenges. Emotionally, that can take its toll.
Just this month Hanna has been working with a young mum, putting together a memory box for each of her two children to be opened on their 21st birthday Christmas.
With Hanna’s help she has written notes to each of them, crafted birthday, Christmas cards and handmade decorations. She has even copied down her granny’s jealously guarded recipe for making the perfect Christmas cake.
That would be hard for any mother. But it’s doubly so when that mum is barely older than a child herself.
She is just 19 years old.
This will be her last Christmas. The final time she will enjoy cuddles and laughter with her precious babies, to see the delight in their eyes on Christmas morning to share in the joy.
As a mother herself, how does Hanna cope with such emotional upheaval?
“It’s not about the grand gestures, it’s about the little things. They may only be two-years-old now, and too young to know what is happening, but in 19 years they will open those boxes and know that their mum was thinking of them – that she had taken the time to prepare the contents and everything inside was made with so much love. It’s an absolute honour to be asked to help do something like that.”
Hanna knows that cancer is hard on families. “It’s not just the patients; it’s the people who are left behind. I’ve worked with this mum’s partner. He must come to terms with the fact that the person he had planned to grow old with isn’t going to be around; that he has to bring up their children alone. He’s grieving already.”
Christmas poses particular challenges for the nursing teams. Wherever possible, patients are allowed to go home but, for some, that may not be possible.
For those few, all the staff on the ward go the extra mile to make sure their cancer patients can celebrate in the way they want.
“Some want to have their family and friends around the bed, with the big opening of the presents, as if they were at home,” says Hana. “Others just want a quiet day, and some may need to celebrate earlier or later depending on their circumstances. Christmas is up to them; we try to accommodate their wishes as much as we possibly can.
“We try to create a safe space where people can be themselves. They may be teenagers, but they are still vulnerable and frightened because, for some, this may be their last Christmas. On the ward, we are all one Christmas family. We have a consultant who dresses as Father Christmas and the young people do their own Christmas concert.
“One year we had a patient who did a remarkable drag act dressed as Mariah Carey. He was so good he should have been on the stage.”
Hanna says she remembers all her patients, even those she cared for more than a decade ago: “I remember their names and their faces. It’s wonderful to see some of the patients who have got through their treatment and got on with the rest of their lives. And I’m still in touch with the families of some who, sadly, haven’t.”
The Teenage Cancer Trust is Newsquest’s chosen charity for 2025. It does amazing work with young people fighting cancer, but it can only carry on doing so with the help and generosity of the public.
“This Christmas it would be wonderful if you could think of a young person who has cancer and do something positive for them. Perhaps you could not send cards and donate instead?
“ Christmas isn’t just one day, it’s so much more than one day, and your donation – no matter how small – can help make a huge difference.”
So, as you go about your Christmas preparations, spare a thought for those less fortunate this year.
As Hanna says: “This could be me – it could be any of us in a heartbeat. Teenage cancers are on the increase. I have two children, aged 18 and 23, and I ask myself: how would I cope and how would I wish my children to be cared for?
“That’s why the Teenage Cancer Trust exists – and that’s why it’s so important to help secure its future this Christmas and beyond.”
Help hospital feel more like home for young people this Christmas. Spending Christmas in hospital can feel isolating – but our specialist units change that.
They’re safe, welcoming spaces where they can invite friends and family, share laughter, and get the expert support they need.
This Christmas, your £10 could help turn isolation into connection – and remind a young person they’re not facing cancer alone.
You can help fund Teenage Cancer Trust nurses and youth support co-ordinators who provide help and support to young people with cancer.
Please give £10 today. Scan the QR code above or Text TEENAGE to 70480 to donate £10. Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message.
