Supporting children with brain tumours

Aim

Tom’s Trust provides psychological support to children with brain tumours and their families to help them through treatment and beyond.

Why do these children need support?

Children treated with brain tumours have the greatest need for psychological support of all children treated for cancer.  

Did you know …

• Brain tumours are the biggest killer of children with cancer, and accounts for a third of deaths in children under the age of 16 in this group
• The site of the tumour often leaves children with enormous emotional, physical and mental damage which can include blindness, hearing loss, learning disabilities, anxiety and depression
• 62% of children experience a life-altering disability following treatment

These children need professional support to help them find their new normal and assist them in reaching their full potential by processing their trauma, and helping them navigate the negative effects that can result from their treatment.

With your help we can support children like Lyla: 

What does Tom’s Trust do?

We provide psychological support for children aged 0-16 who are diagnosed with brain tumours, and we support their families too. Our support is from diagnosis, through treatment and for the rest of their childhood. We also support families who lose their children to this terrible disease. 

We are proud to be supporting every child diagnosed with brain tumour in the East of England, and now aim to do the same in the North East, with two new Clinical Psychologists posted at The Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle.  

We are the only UK charity focused solely on psychological support for children with brain tumours and their families, which is desperately needed but almost entirely absent.

Please watch our short video above for the full story!

What are the numbers?

Every year 1,400 children in the UK are diagnosed with cancer, 500 of these have brain tumours.

Tom’s Trust has supported 269 children since we were founded and are currently supporting 163 children, as well as their families.

Our new Clinical Psychologists in Newcastle will more than double our current capacity. 

This means that hundreds of children each year – and a multitude of additional family members – will soon be receiving the support they so greatly need.

Please help us provide the vital support that children with brain tumours and their families need. 

What will your support fund?

Our funding target is set at £1,575, which could support 35 newly diagnosed children in the North East to have an initial assessment with our Clinical Psychologists and an introductory psychological support session. 

Here is how we spend our funding:

Every penny counts, the more we get, the more children we can support! 

Will you show your caring by sharing? 

If you choose to donate, please tweet or post that you have, and we’ll retweet and repost you. By sharing our story you can make a difference and help to raise awareness for children with brain tumours.  Please spread the word.

Where can you find out more?

For more information, please visit our website, or contact us at [email protected]

Please help us support children with brain tumours

Thank you for taking the time to read more about our vital work. 

We hope you will consider pledging your support to Tom’s Trust and helping us give children and their families the support they urgently need. 

We won’t stop until EVERY child with a brain tumour and their family receives psychological support from the point of diagnosis.

This project successfully funded on 9th March 2020