AFTER A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE WITH CANCER, CHARITY TAKES NEW NAME

• Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust Rebrands as Project Youth Cancer
• New name, same team, same passion - to support young people with cancer.
• Launch of new one-to-one counselling service for young people affected by cancer to be delivered at point of need and help reduce waiting times.

Yorkshire-based national charity, The Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust has become Project Youth Cancer as it positions itself as a leading support organisation for young people with cancer in the UK, and officially launches a new counselling service across the region to help improve mental wellbeing in young cancer patients.

Project Youth Cancer has been revealed today as the charity’s new name ahead of World Cancer Day which takes place on Saturday 4^th February. The rebrand marks the charity’s shift to increase support for young people with cancer throughout the region, in both body and mind, with the launch of a new one-to-one counselling service, alongside other services, to help improve mental wellbeing and reduce waiting times.

After marking the 25th Anniversary last year, the charity team has worked through an extensive branding process with the incredibly generous support of Frank & Alex Brand Strategy who have gifted their time and expertise to the charity and this process. The new website has also been gifted free of charge by supporters Forty4Three. The changes made were with young people with cancer front and centre of every conversation and decision.

The new mental health service is now being made available to young people in cancer throughout Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, with the support of Leeds Building Society who have made a generous donation to the charity service.

Since it was established in 1996, the charity has helped increase awareness around how cancers behave differently for adolescents and young adults and the lack of relevant research in this age group. Over the years it has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund specific research projects to help forge better diagnosis and treatment.

The charity also supports 47 specialist hospitals throughout the UK that treat teenage cancer, providing support mechanisms, such as technology, to improve time spent on hospital wards, and donates 500 Christmas presents to young people spending Christmas in hospital every year.

Cancer is the most common form of non-accidental death in teenagers and young adults in the UK. Every day in the UK approximately seven young people aged between 13 and 24 are diagnosed with cancer.

Commenting on the rebrand, Project Youth Cancer’s CEO, Pam Thornes, said: “We had already shifted our focus to include mental wellbeing a couple of years ago, so it felt like a logical step to completely reassess how we supported our patients and see if we could help fill the void that existed in mental health support.

Charity Ambassador Sarah Dransfield went through treatment for cancer at the age of sixteen and is passionate about supporting other young people “It’s vital that young people with cancer are given the support they need WHEN they need it. We don’t want them being added to a waiting list, we want to deliver the counselling quickly at the point of need, and that’s where Project Youth Cancer will come in. Often patients need this extra support after treatment is finished and “normal” life returns. Project Youth Cancer will be there for them at this time.”

Looking at waiting times for mental health services for children and young people across the Yorkshire regions, 50% / over half of those with a referral, were still waiting for contact 12 weeks later or had received just one contact (taken from NHS Additional Wait Times CYP 2020-2021). Project Youth Cancer aims to match a young person with a counsellor within a couple of weeks.

Young people with cancer may receive support more promptly, but that may be dependant on where they receive their treatment.

Twenty-five years ago, Laura Crane’s mum, the late Jacquie Roeder, set out to make a difference to young people living with cancer in memory of her fearless daughter Laura Crane, setting up the charity in her name. Laura didn’t let cancer dictate her life, she lived life to the full, dedicating her final few weeks to help others. At the age of just 17, Laura sadly died and the charity was set up in her memory by her family. It continues to work with the same passion and determination that Laura had and will continue to do so as Project Youth Cancer.

To mark the rebrand, the charity will be showcasing a film featuring students from Laura Crane’s old college in Huddersfield, Greenhead College, to raise awareness of the name change. The film can be viewed across Project Youth Cancer social media pages.

Project Youth Cancer’s new look can be found here - www.projectyouthcancer.org