Help fund a Children & Young Person Playworker

Aim

Team Jak supports children, young people & their families affected by cancer, we want to add a playworker to our team to help create smiles!

Who are Team Jak? 

Team Jak provides emotional, social and practical support for children and young people age 0-25 with cancer and related illnesses, their siblings, families, friends and those bereaved throughout Scotland, through Jak’s Den HQ in Livingston and Jak’s Den Aberdeen and via pop up Dens in Fife, Glasgow, north of Scotland and at home, online and via hospital support. 

Created from lived experience of 15 year old Jak Trueman on his own journey, Team Jak strive to ensure no one feels alone on their cancer journey at whatever stage and aim to meet as many of the emotional and relational needs of our young people and their families as possible, using our bespoke programme of emotional and social support in order that they can build resilience and take some control back over their lives once more, and in turn alleviate feelings of isolation, loneliness and social exclusion.  

Team Jak was set up by Jak and all of his requests were built upon personal experience of him and his sister. Whilst acknowledging that the medical support for our children and young people is outstanding our support responds to the gaps in NHS service provision required and requested by families. 

Photos show Jak Trueman, left image is Jak in his goalie kit holding a football - football was a huge passion of Jak's and he played for both his local and country team. Right image shows Jak mid treatment. Jak was diagnosed in August 2014 with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, Gamma Delta T-Cell Lymphoma, which took his life just 5 months later.

Our activities and amazing playworkers

All of the activities and support groups within Team Jak aim to create smiles, ease the journey and support our young people and their families on a journey they didn’t ask to be on but are. Our activities aim to empower our young people to take control of their emotional and mental health and find a way through their cancer journey knowing they are supported, and providing opportunities for them to participate in activities they couldn’t do in normal settings for fear of infection, building resilience as they partake in support groups and fun activity sessions as a result.

Our playworker team are invaluable, we couldn’t deliver the experiences we do for children, young people and their families without them. As the number of families Team Jak supports grows, our need for more playworkers to deliver fund and engaging activities also increases. 

Our playworkers come up with amazing games and activities for children ranging from safe messy play using crushed biscuits and jelly, to mask making, handprint painting, and a variety of activities based around themed weeks. 

This summer we are excited to offer the children and young people across our Dens and pop ups STEM activities, a Hogwarts week including wand making and potions class, and animals week which will include trips to the nature reserve for pond dipping.

How will this money make a difference? 

This money will allow us to add another playworker to our team, enabling us to create more smiles for children, young people and their families.  

During school holiday periods we aim to increase our fun days we hold at our Jak’s Dens and our pop-ups to relieve the pressure from families, but to do this we need more staff.  

As numbers of families using the Dens increase too, we need more hands on deck to give the children and young people the very best experience whilst they are with us in their safe and happy space.  

Our playworkers also visit the oncology wards at Glasgow and Edinburgh Hospitals once a week, so having another playworker would allow us to reach more children in hospital.  

How you can help

We would love to reach our target, and there are easy ways you can help us to do so:

1. Make a donation.

 2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell your network about Team Jak, what we do and about this campaign. We know there are many families we haven’t reached yet who could use our support so even if you can’t donate, please do share the word. The more people we reach, the more funds we will raise and the more families we can help.

 3. Run your own fundraiser. Do a sponsored activity/challenge, or organise an event. Use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won't need any bank details. All you need is a fun idea!

We are so grateful for any support we receive. We get no statutory funding - all of Team Jak’s work is made possible thanks to support such as this.

Thank you, and please do visit our website or social media pages to find out more about what we do.

This project successfully funded on 31st July 2023