Partnerships

As well as our day-to-day support for the Children’s Cancer Unit, we put a lot of work into future planning and one area we focus on is the future of patient care. In order to ensure that children and young people in Northern Ireland receive the best possible care, we are committed to supporting the future workforce here and to ensuring that we retain and equip as many future nurses as possible. We do this through our partnership with Queen’s University School of Nursing and Midwifery. The partnership, now in its second year, allows us to provide enriching experiences for current nursing students, opportunities to learn more about oncology and haematology nursing, events where students can meet and hear from members of the current CHU nursing team and access to scholarship opportunities to enhance their future careers.

Some examples of the various elements of this partnership include the annual CCUC International Nursing Programme which is a scholarship

The Children’s Cancer Unit Charity has been working in partnership with Aflac Northern Ireland since they arrived in Belfast in 2019. As well as the staff fundraising and volunteering aspect of the partnership, Aflac NI provides My Special Aflac Ducks for children diagnosed with cancer. These much-loved, soft fluffy ducks help children to prepare for medical procedures, communicate their feelings, practise distraction techniques and so much more.

Aflac NI’s commitment to supporting children, young people and their families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis comes as a result of its parent company, Aflac US’ work and dedication to the areas of paediatric cancer and blood disorders.

The Northern Ireland Children’s Health Coalition is a collective of leading charities working with and for children and young people in Northern Ireland. The aim of the coalition is to improve the quality of health services and holistic support for children and young people and their families. As we continue to support the families whose children are receiving treatment in the Children’s Cancer Unit, we are acutely aware of the huge financial impact that a child or young person’s cancer diagnosis can have on a family. Many parents will have to give up work to care for their child, others will have long journeys to and from hospital and almost all will have to spend much more than normal on heating their homes to ensure their child’s immune system is protected. We have joined with the other charities to call on the government to provide a dedicated “Young Patients’ Fund” to help families cover these often insurmountable hidden costs of having a child in hospital.

The Northern Ireland Cancer Charities Coalition is a group of 34 cancer charities, who have joined together to establish a local sector voice, with the aim of strengthening advocacy on cancer issues and facilitating more streamlined and unified engagement with governing officials. The coalition will enable greater cross-charity collaboration to help combat cancer and improve the lives of those impacted by it.

The Parents’ Advisory Group (PAG) brings together parents who currently have or have previously had a child go through cancer treatment in Northern Ireland. They meet regularly to share their experiences as a parent in a bid to improve cancer services, hospital visits and stays, research and more. We support the PAG alongside our colleagues in Young Lives vs Cancer, Cancer Fund for Children and Belfast Health & Social Care Trust and together the charities are currently working to progress, fund and further explore some of the areas and projects that have been highlighted by parents as requiring attention.

The AYA Service is a partnership between five charities (The Children’s Cancer Unit Charity, Cancer Fund for Children, Young Lives vs Cancer, Friends of the Cancer Centre, and Teenage Cancer Trust) working alongside the Northern Ireland Health Trusts, to deliver a regional cancer support service to ensure that adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer can have access to age-appropriate care and practical, social and emotional support, regardless of where they live. The charities fund key roles across the five Health & Social Care Trusts to support these young people.

The Children’s Cancer Unit Charity is proud to partner with colleagues in Cancer Fund for Children and Friends of the Cancer Centre in support of Go Gold, a campaign to raise awareness of childhood, adolescent and young adult cancers, throughout Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September.

The Children’s Cancer Unit Charity funds Action Cancer to deliver Complementary Therapies within the Children’s Cancer Unit at The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. These therapeutic interventions help children, young people, and their parents to deal with stress and aim to bring a sense of calm and relaxation. Therapies also teach self-care techniques to build coping mechanisms.