Other sources of help
It’s important to Solving Kids’ Cancer UK that we work closely and collaborate with other charities that offer support and distribute useful information to families affected by neuroblastoma. Here’s a list of useful links to other organisations that share our goal of improving the lives of everyone affected by neuroblastoma.
We aim to keep these details as up-to-date as possible, but please be aware that the organisations and services listed below may change at any time.
UK children’s cancer charities
Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG)
CCLG is the professional membership organisation for those working in the treatment and care of children and young people with cancer. There are 21 CCLG specialist centres for the treatment of childhood cancer and leukaemia, covering all areas of the UK and Ireland. The website also has wide-ranging information for parents and professionals about childhood cancers and leukemia.
Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF)
CNCF is an American neuroblastoma foundation who has supported Solving Kids' Cancer UK, particularly with our parent conferences. Follow this link to read their very detailed and informative handbook for parents.
Children with Cancer UK invest in research, welfare and campaigning programmes for children and young people suffering from cancer, as well as raising awareness.
Provides real hair wigs for children who have lost their hair to cancer or other conditions and fund research into childhood cancers.
Provides free information and emotional support for people living with cancer, and information about UK cancer support groups and organisations. The charity also offers free confidential information about cancer types, treatments and what to expect.
Neuroblastoma UK is a UK-based charity that focuses on funding early-stage research.
Teenage Cancer Trust offers care and support, designed for and with young people. They fund specialised nurses, youth workers and hospital units in the NHS, so young people have dedicated staff and facilities to support them throughout treatment. They also run events for young people with cancer and provide information about every aspect of living with cancer as a young person.
Young Lives vs Cancer (YLVC) provides nurses and social workers to aid in the care of children and young people with cancer. At diagnosis, each family will be assigned a YLVC social worker who is there to provide practical and emotional support for families affected by neuroblastoma.
Wish granting
Provides support to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses and their families in the UK. They offer wishes up to the value of £500, therapeutic items as well as give support to hospitals directly.
Provides wishes to children aged between 4 and 16 years of age living with a life threatening or terminal illness.
Funds a day out for children with cancer aged between 0-16 years and their families.
Provides wishes to children currently living with a serious or life-limiting illness who are aged between 3-18 years old.
Grants wishes to children between 4-17 years of age who are suffering from a life-threatening illness.
Provides wishes to children between the ages of 3 and 17 years old, who are UK residents and diagnosed with a critical condition.
Makes dreams come true for terminally and seriously ill children between 3-18 years old and their families.
Grants wishes and dreams to sick children who suffer from a serious or life-limiting illness.
Holidays
Provides holiday accommodation in East Sussex to families from across the UK affected by childhood cancer and other life threatening and life-limiting conditions, including those experiencing bereavement.
Torbay Holiday Helpers Network
Provides free holidays to families from across the UK who have a seriously ill child, who are recently bereaved or who have a terminally ill parent.
Will’s Woodland is a free holiday retreat for families affected by childhood cancer based in Devon.
Takes children 8-14 years of age with a serious illness or disability for a holiday to Orlando.
Grants
Provides supermarket vouchers to families with a child who has been diagnosed with cancer.
Provides grants to help families meet the financial needs that can arise from childhood cancer or treatment.
The Cindy Appleyard Foundation
Provides grants up to £300 to families who have a child in a specialist hospital a long way from their home.
Aims to provide two nights’ accommodation for parents to stay close to their child in hospital with a life threatening or life limiting condition and help with other costs associated with being near a child in hospital – food and travel costs.
Provides grants for a range of items and general funding, including for specialist medical, educational and recreational equipment; travel, parking and accommodation costs when a child is hospitalised, and short breaks, holidays and days out.
Specialist equipment
Works directly with families providing financial grants for key items and therapies that assist children. The key items include powered and manual wheelchairs, specialist trikes, specialist buggies and pushchairs, specialist car seats, walkers and standing frame, sensory toys, hoists, basic white goods, P Pod chairs, and single tough furniture Beds. The therapies include Speech & Language, Occupations therapy, Food therapy and Behavioural therapy.
Provides a full spectrum of specialised equipment such as electric wheelchairs, mobility aids and items including specialised computers and sensory toys.
Provides help with the purchase of specialised equipment.
Provides adapted equipment to help children and young people feel less isolated.
Provides family support services, equipment, treatment and therapies for disabled children under 18 across the UK. Provides grants for powdered wheelchairs, specialised buggies, bespoke therapy tricycles and specialised car seats.
Provides grants for manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs, buggies and trikes to children under the age of 18 across the UK.
Variety Club, The Children’s Charity
Provides grants towards mobility equipment, monitoring equipment, feeding tubes or hoists and sensory equipment to children up to the age of 18.
Other
Provides bikes, specially adapted trikes, cycling related equipment and support to children and young people living with cancer across the UK.
The Harvey Hext Trust - A Siblings Wish
Supplies bespoke personalised wooden memory boxes to children who have lost a sibling. Every child in the family designs and receives their own Memory box so that the box belongs to them and only them. Boxes are supplied to siblings under the age of 25 years old.
Designs pair of shoes specifically for a particular child or young person with a diagnosis of cancer, and hand-painted by a Super Artist to capture that child and all their favourite things. Supershoes are available for children and young people up to the age of 24.
Provides bereavement support to grieving children and their families.
Offers family support and individual support at the end of the phone, email and face-to-face. The charity also offers a Holiday Programme, which ranges from static caravans, to resort holidays in both Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland Paris.
Offers financial, emotional and practical support and respite breaks.
Provides a range of services including financial grants, respite options, wishes or treats for children, various packs and social events, and support and advice.
SpecialEffect optimise inclusion, enjoyment and quality of life by helping people control video games to the best of their abilities through eye-gaze technology, telepresent robots and a range of other tools to bring the world of gaming directly to people with severe injury or illness.
Regional support organisations
Abby’s Heroes help and support children and their families, including bereaved families, who come under the care of the Piam Brown and the Teenagers and Young Adults (TYA) wards at Southampton General Hospital. They offer financial and practical help as well as the opportunity to make lasting memories for the children and their families.
The Dream Factory (Chigwell and Hainault)
Grants dreams to children and young adults between 3-25 years old, with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and/or severe disabilities.
Children with Cancer Fund (East Sussex, Brighton and Hove)
Grants wishes to children up to the age of eighteen, and their families, who have, or have had, cancer and who primarily live in East Sussex, Brighton and Hove. Wishes can be practical, medical or fun and made to individual families as well as supporting a group together by giving them quality family time.
Destination Florida Children’s Charity (North of England)
Destination Florida organises life enhancing biennial trips to Florida for around 72 children from across the North of England. Lasting for eight days, the children are given the opportunity to visit all the major theme parks. Children need to be between 6-16 years old when they travel.
The Principle Trust Children’s Charity (North Yorkshire)
Based in Skipton, North Yorkshire, the Principle Trust Children’s Charity helps improve the quality of life of children from across Yorkshire who are underprivileged, disadvantaged, or disabled through the provision of free holidays and respite breaks.
Holibobs provides holidays to UK destinations to children and young adults diagnosed with cancer or leukaemia up to the age of 19, living in Wales.
Together Trust (North West of England)
The Together Trust delivers individual care, support and education services across the Northwest. They champion the rights, needs and ambitions of care-experienced children and people with disabilities, autism and mental health differences.
Sebastian’s Action Trust (South East of England)
Provides emotional, social and practical care for life-limited and life-threatened children between 0-19 years of age and their families based in the Southeast, principally from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Surrey and Oxfordshire.
Charity for Kids (Hastings and Rother)
Provides help for disabled, sick and terminally ill children and their families, across Hastings & Rother. The charity helps children and their families with specialised equipment that is either not available via the health services or comes with a very high cost.
The Joshua Tree (North West of England and North Wales)
The Joshua Tree is a children's cancer charity that is dedicated to working closely with families affected by childhood cancers. They work with the whole family - patient, parent, siblings and grandparents - in recognising that every family’s cancer journey is unique.
Offers emotional, practical and financial support to families affected by cancer throughout Yorkshire.
Transport for Sick Kids (Greater Manchester)
Transport for Sick Children is a charity based in Greater Manchester. Volunteer drivers use their own cars to take accompanied children with no other means of transport to hospital and clinic appointments in and around Manchester.
Shine a Light (Coventry and Warwickshire)
Shine a Light supports families affected by childhood cancer, by providing a range of vital support services and an understanding shoulder to lean on. The charity support families of children and young people up to the age of 24, who live in the Coventry and Warwickshire area and who are affected by childhood cancer.
Wipe Away Those Tears (Essex)
Wipe Away Those Tears aims to grant a wish and bring a sparkle into the lives of terminally or seriously ill children in Essex.
Hug's Children's Cancer Charity (Plymouth)
Helping families in the PL postcode who have a child with a rare childhood cancer. Whether emotional support, making a memory or helping families keep in touch, Hugs Children’s Cancer Charity provides them with a place to turn.
GKCT provides practical and financial support to families of children with cancer in these regions. They also work to raise wider awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer across the UK with GPs and other frontline health care professionals.
Cancer Fund for Children (Northern Ireland)
Cancer Fund for Children offers support to families in their home, in the community, on the hospital ward and at Daisy Lodge.
The above list is by no means exhaustive and we very much welcome feedback and information on other organisations that can be added to this list.